MY MOTHER'S SON
by J7339
Summary: Lucas is told that someone close to him has died and finds he needs to re-evaluate what the relationship meant to him. When he finds out that the death was no accident he tries to find out who did it and why.
1. Default Chapter

MY MOTHER'S SON  
  
Authors Note: In this story it is assumed that Lawrence Wolenczak is in jail for the abuse of his son. Everything about Lucas's mother is made up except for her name from other stories.  
  
"Come on Lucas it is your move" a frustrated Ben said as he waited for his friend to decide when he was going to roll the dice. Five of them, Bridger, Kristen, Miguel Ortiz, Ben and Lucas were all playing a board game of monopoly. Kristen already owned half of the board and everybody was just about broke from landing on the squares with her hotels and houses. Ben was the worst off and was going to have to borrow beg or steal some money shortly from Bridger who was playing banker.  
  
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking" Lucas said trying to defend the amount of time he was taking. Truth was he was just about in the same jam as Ben but he wasn't quite ready to admit defeat yet.  
  
"I thought you were supposed to be the smart one here. With an I.Q. like yours you should be able to make up your mind a lot quicker than the rest of us." Ben now said.  
  
"Just because I have a high I.Q. doesn't mean I get to win all of the time Krieg. This here is a game of strategy. It's not about who has the most money or the least money. It's about being able to out move your opponents and gain control of the board by buying the right property at the right time" Lucas said as he explained the finer art of playing monopoly.  
  
"Oh sure and this little bit of advice comes from somebody who has about ten dollars to his name" Ben said in a sarcastic tone. Everyone around the table was laughing heartily at the exchange between the two friends. This was the most fun any of them had had in a while. There was another week of shore leave left to go but nights like this when it was just good company reminded them about how to have a good time without going out somewhere and rely on others for the entertainment.  
  
Lucas's sharp reply was interrupted by the shrill ringing of the telephone on the table just inside the hallway, across the other side of the room. "I'll get it" he offered and quickly got to his feet to grab a hold of the receiver.  
  
"Hello" he said politely to whoever was on the other end of the telephone.  
  
"Is Lucas there please?" came the frantic voice of a female on the other end of the line.  
  
"This is Lucas" he replied. All the others were now a little curious as to who the caller was when Lucas was the intended receiver.  
  
"Lucas this is Aunt Beryl. I am sorry honey but I have some terrible new for you" the woman now said.  
  
"Aunt Beryl" Lucas said as he repeated the name in total surprise. That was somebody he hadn't talk to in a very long time. "I never expected to hear from you, how are you?" Lucas started to say when he was interrupted by the woman again.  
  
"No you don't understand Lucas. This isn't just a social call. I hate to tell you this, but your mother died yesterday morning. The funeral is in two days. I thought you might like to be there for it and the reading of the will seeing as you are the sole beneficiary."  
  
Lucas's brain never took in the last two sentences about the funeral and the will reading. His mind only picked up on two words: 'mother' and 'died'.  
  
Bridger was sitting across the other side of the room but could immediately see the colour drain from the young man's face as he listened intently to the voice on the other end of the phone. He and Kristen quickly scrambled to Lucas's side to try and gauge what was so dreadfully wrong.  
  
"I am sorry not to talk so long Lucas but your Aunt Carmel wouldn't like me talking to you. I will see you at the funeral and we can sit down and talk some more." Lucas's aunt said and hung up on the other end of the line.  
  
Lucas still didn't hear any of the conversation. His hands were beginning to tremble and fumble. He found his fingers could no longer hold onto the receiver. He dropped the telephone and his hands flew to his mouth as he still tried to fathom what the caller had just said to him.  
  
"Lucas honey, what's wrong. Talk to me" Kristen now asked gently but with urgency in her voice. She noted the pallor of the boy's face and it seemed to be getting paler by the minute.  
  
"Lucas can you hear me" Bridger now said as he took hold of the boy gently but firmly. He was worried that the boy was going to faint right on the spot. His fears quickly started to become real as he felt Lucas's legs betray him begin to buckle underneath him. The teenager continued to stare out in front of him as if he couldn't even see anybody else beside him.  
  
"Help me, he's collapsing" Bridger shouted to Miguel and Ben who were quickly on their feet and only too willing to help out there distressed friend.  
  
Three of them half-carried, half-walked the teenager over to the large couch and placed him gently onto it. Ben cleared the couch of all current obstacles just as he was placed on it. They kept talking to him in soft voices, trying to get him to talk to them and tell them what was so wrong. After he was settled on the couch, Kristen had picked up the dropped telephone. She put it to her ear but was a little disappointed to hear only the distinct beep that indicated the caller was no longer on the other end of the phone.  
  
"Nobody there" she told the others. She now moved in front of the teenager. She put her hands on his face and noted the coolness that was present. That together with the pallor of his face and the wide vacant stare that he gave could only mean one thing to her.  
  
"Nathan I think he is going into some sort of shock." Kristen said with concern in her voice. "Ben, go upstairs quickly and gather some pillows and warm blankets. If he is going into shock, we have to keep him as warm as possible."  
  
Ben did as he was told and soon returned with whatever bedding he had been able to find upstairs. He was handed Kristen one of the pillows but had a confused look on her face as she placed it under Lucas's feet rather than his head. She took a second one from him and placed that one under his knees.  
  
"Don't you want one for his head?" Ben now asked.  
  
"No Ben, when people go into shock it is important to keep their bodies warm and keep the feet elevated higher than the head." Kristen said as she explained her actions.  
  
"We still don't know what is wrong with him." Miguel now said, stating the blatantly obvious.  
  
"I can't believe it" he said in a whisper. The others around him didn't know if he was talking to them or himself.  
  
"Can't believe what Lucas?" Bridger now said in a soft voice of him own.  
  
"Tell me it's not true Captain. Promise me that it's not true" he said in a pleading voice as he grabbed the front of Bridger's shirt. The tears welled up in the boy's dull blue eyes and began spilling down his cheeks as he waited for the answer he needed to hear.  
  
"Tell you what's not true Lucas?" Bridger asked as he tried to console the distraught teenager. "What do you want me to promise you?"  
  
Lucas stared at his friends and family for a few minutes as though he didn't understand the question. The thoughts in his head were going around and around in circles as he tried to make sense out of them all.  
  
Kristen gently held the boy's wrist to check his pulse and noted how it was very racy. She could still feel the trembling in his hands and proceeded to tuck the blankets around him tighter to maintain his body temperature. What ever was wrong with Lucas was scaring her very much.  
  
"My mother....." he began and then had to chew his lip to try and get the words out.  
  
Kristen knew all about Lucas's mother and the loveless relationship she had afforded her son for most of his life. If that had been her on the end of the telephone and she had said something to upset Lucas, Kristen was going to make damn sure his mother regretted every little word. Her thoughts soon died away though as she heard the next sentence.  
  
"My mother is dead" Lucas said and then buried him face into Bridger's shoulder as he sobbed over the woman who he barely knew.  
  
Bridger held onto the boy as he let his emotions go. He looked over the top of the blond head and saw the same shocked and confused looks on Ben, Miguel and Kristen. The harder Lucas cried, the tighter he held him. Bridger knew he had to remain stronger than ever now for this boy that meant so much to him.  
  
Nobody in the room dared utter a word as what Lucas said began to sink in. Nobody knew what to say to him. All this time they had thought that Lucas didn't give a damn about his parents. The Wolenczak's had made it abundantly clear over the years that Lucas had been nothing but a nuisance to either of them.  
  
All of them looked down at the still sobbing boy with saddened expressions and hearts full of sorrow.  
  
END OF PART ONE  
  
JUST A BEGINNING - I have been writing all of these stories about Lucas's abusive father when I suddenly remembered that I have written very little about his mother. This is just a whim and I don't know where it is going at the moment but I will see how it goes. Don't worry, Lucas won't always be the vulnerable teenager in this story. Time to put some spunk into him and give him some attitude I think, for a little while anyway.  
  
I will be updating Breathe and The Friendship within the next two or three days. I have just finished a story of almost 120 000 words so I have much more time now to concentrate on all of those half-started stories and try to finish them off for you. 


	2. CHAPTER 2

MY MOTHER'S SON  
  
  
  
Two hours after Lucas got the phone call about his mother, he sat stony faced on the couch staring out in deep thought. Miguel had returned to the boat about half an hour ago to advise the rest of the crew what had happened and to let Commander Ford know that he would be in charge of the vessel until short leave was up.  
  
Bridger and Kristen were determined to stick with Lucas over this difficult time in his life. They knew that they would have to travel to the funeral with Lucas and then stay on for the wake and any other forced family reunions that needed to take place. Lucas would also have to stick around for the will reading and someone would need to be appointed to handle Cynthia's estate and assets.  
  
The added difficulty for Bridger and Kristen was that they knew nothing at all about Cynthia or her family. They had not met any of them and Lucas never told them about them.  
  
Bridger sat beside Lucas whilst he was on the couch, not talking, but just letting the teenager know that he was there if they needed him. Grief was something different for everybody. Some people screamed and shouted, others broke down and cried for days, some just tried to imagine that it never happened and that it would just go away like a bad dream.  
  
None of them knew how Lucas felt about death. It wasn't a subject that was usually discussed. Lucas had cried but now just sat in silence lost in his own thoughts.  
  
"You know it's strange Captain" Lucas finally said in a very low voice. He still had the odd tear running down his face on and off but for the most part he was getting himself under control. He was now sitting up on the couch with the blanket draped around his shoulders.  
  
"What's strange Lucas?" Bridger now asked, truly wanting to know everything that Lucas was feeling with his sense of loss. He knew how hard it was to loose somebody close to you. When he had lost Robert and then Carol, Bridger felt like he had lost a part of him. It was an empty space that just seemed to linger inside you forever. Even time couldn't cover the vast void left behind sometimes.  
  
"Here I am sitting here crying my eyes out over somebody I barely knew" Lucas said with a touch of cynicism in his words. "She never cared, or if she did she never told me. Now they tell me that she is dead. I don't know how she died but you would think it wouldn't matter at all to me."  
  
"Sometimes you can forget you loved someone Lucas. Just because she didn't show you didn't mean she never loved you. A mother and son bonding is one that takes lot to break, even if the two have been separated for a long time. You probably never stopped loving her either. You just pushed the feelings aside because there has been so many other emotions to deal with." Kristen now said, trying to give the stricken boy some solace and comfort.  
  
"I don't know if I am ready to deal with something like this right now" Lucas now said, getting of the couch and beginning to walk around the room.  
  
"We will be right there for you pal. Whatever you need you just say it. We won't let you go through this thing alone." Bridger now said as he tried to reassure Lucas that everything would work out in the end.  
  
"No you don't understand" Lucas now said, the anxiety clearly showing on his face. "If I go there, I have to face her family and probably some of my dad's. If I start having to deal with them then it only drags up the past again. You know that my past is something that I have been trying to forget. If I go to her place it's only going to resurface all over again." he now explained, running a nervous hand through his tussled blond hair.  
  
"Just when I think I can walk away from it all and start my life over again and leave all of that behind me, something else sticks it right back in my face all over again and reopens old wounds." Lucas now said with a little annoyance.  
  
"You don't have to go anywhere if you don't want to Lucas" Kristen replied. "I know it's your mother, but if you don't feel like facing your family, I am sure they will understand. We could come up with a plausible excuse for you and you could deal with things in your own time. All the legal stuff can wait too."  
  
"No, it's not that I don't want to go. I do. Or rather I think I have to. But just thinking of her family puts my nerves on edge. You really don't know what they are like. You don't know what a lunatic family I came from before SeaQuest." Lucas answered.  
  
"Do you want us to go with you?" Bridger now asked, not really intending for the teenager to go alone anyway.  
  
"Would you? Would all of you?" he now asked, addressing the three of them including Ben Krieg.  
  
"You mean you want me to come along too Lucas?" Ben now asked, a little surprised that the teenager was offering for him to come as well.  
  
"More than you know. Once you meet some of my mother's family you'll see why. I might need a bodyguard or something from one or more of them. I am telling you they are absolutely crazy." Lucas now said in a joking tone.  
  
"Seems as though you fit in perfectly to this family" Ben now said, trying to get the teenager to relax a little.  
  
"Do you know of somewhere we can all stay during the funeral and things Lucas?" Bridger now asked, thinking of some of the more practical arrangements that needed to be made tonight for the travel tomorrow.  
  
"Oh don't worry about accommodation. We can stay at mom's house. It's huge, got something like 23 bedrooms and about 5 bathrooms. Plenty of room for all of us. I will ring Henry and tell him that we are coming. He can meet us at the airport and pick us all up."  
  
Inwardly, Bridger and Ben both whistled at the extravagance of Cynthia's home. With Lucas being such a down to earth regular kid, it was hard to remember that he came from a background of money and power. There had never been any love and affection but plenty of money to buy material things and people. When he left, the awful memories of his childhood made Lucas want to forget all about the luxury he was afforded. Sometimes you could be the most filthiest rich of people when it came to money, but a pauper when it came to such things as feelings, understanding and love.  
  
"Henry?" Kristen now asked in curiosity. They needed to start knowing who all these other people were in Lucas's life prior to SeaQuest.  
  
"Mom's butler. He did everything for her. Besides, he is the only one I really trust out of any of the family. Strictly speaking he is not family, but he looked after me all the times I stayed there. He made it bearable through the tougher times with my father."  
  
Ben had returned to the boat only long enough to pack some clothing and then returned to Bridger's house on the island to stay the night. It was going to be an early start in the morning so it was easier if they all left from the same place.  
  
As Bridger opened the door for Ben when he returned, Lucas could be heard talking on the telephone to someone else. Krieg gave the Captain a questioning look to ask who it was.  
  
"The butler fellow I think" Bridger mouthed back, keeping their voices down so as to catch as much of the conversation on the phone as possible.  
  
"That's great Henry. I can't wait to see you again tomorrow. I just wished the timing and circumstances were better" the teenager now said to the caller on the other end of the line. "You just make sure that you use Uncle Walter to ward off all of the hoarders before I get there tomorrow. I don't want anything being taken or souvenired before we hear what mom's wishes were" he now added on a more serious note.  
  
"See you at the airport Henry" Lucas now said and hung up.  
  
"Everything okay Lucas?" Kristen asked as she noted a definite scowl on the teenager's face as he walked away from the telephone.  
  
"Just goes to show you doesn't it that some people only hold money and possessions above all else" Lucas now really talking to himself before realising that he had said it out loud.  
  
Lucas looked up to see blank looks on the faces of the other people in the room as if to say "What are you talking about Lucas?"  
  
"Henry says that some of mom's family have turned up already and started fighting and haggling over what they are going to take from the house once the funeral is over. He says that he will make sure that nobody takes a brass dime from there until we talk to mom's lawyer and see what was written in her will." Lucas now explained. "I don't even know if mom had a legal will, especially after everything that has happened between her and my father. With the divorce she cleaned him out totally but I don't know what happened after he went to jail."  
  
"Money and wealth seem to bring out the worst in some people Lucas" Bridger now commented. He knew that this was exactly the situation that Lucas was trying to avoid but it looked as though it was already happening before he even got there.  
  
Bridger and Kristen awoke early the next morning and headed downstairs to the kitchen. Ben Krieg was also just getting up from his makeshift bed on the couch.  
  
"He's outside on the patio" Ben said as he nodded his head towards the door. "I think he has been there most of the night. I remember waking up about 3.30am this morning and he was sitting there then" he now said with a touch of sadness in his voice. "I don't think he has gotten much sleep".  
  
"I'll make some coffee before we go" Kristen now offered knowing that Bridger would want to go outside and talk to the distressed teenager.  
  
Bridger didn't say anything but did like Kristen expected him to do and headed towards the front door and patio. He opened and closed the front door reasonably quietly so as not to startle Lucas.  
  
When he got outside on the patio, he could see Lucas sitting on one of the wicker cane chairs, looking out over the ocean, lost deep in thought again.  
  
"Lucas" Bridger said in a soft voice.  
  
The teenager was startled slightly, and turned towards the sound of his name. He saw it was the Captain and quickly wiped the tears from his face away on his shirt sleeve.  
  
"Hey, it's okay. You don't need to hide them from me" Bridger said in a gentle voice, putting a comforting arm around the boy's slim shoulders. He felt Lucas's body crumple from tiredness and stress into his embrace.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to burden you with all of this" Lucas finally said. He looked up at the Captain. Bridger could see the bloodshot eyes and tear-stained face.  
  
"You're not doing anything that we wouldn't expect Lucas. You need to let out your emotions, not bottle them all up inside of you. Believe me. I tried to hide away from the world when I lost Robert and Carol and look where I ended up, living on a isolated island, hoping that nobody would ever come and find me again." Bridger now said, trying to give the boy some reassurance that the pain he was feeling was perfectly normal.  
  
He wouldn't let Lucas shut himself out from everybody like he had tried to do. If Bill Noyce hadn't come and rescued him from his own despair and got him to join SeaQuest, he never would have met Kristen or the rest of the crew. He never would have met this gifted yet vulnerable young man sitting with him now and would have never known what it felt like to love somebody else again.  
  
About an hour later, the three of them found themselves winging their way to Beverley Hills, Los Angeles. Lucas sat in the window seat and just stared out the window the whole trip. Ben on the other hand grumbled all the way about having to sit in the aisle seat. By the time the flight landed in Los Angeles at about lunch time, Kristen was ready to do him physical harm if she had to put up with his antics a minute longer.  
  
Bridger stuck pretty close to Lucas as they walked out of the terminal gate and headed towards the baggage collection area. He left the kid standing on his own briefly while he and Ben went to grab the luggage from the revolving conveyor belt.  
  
"Everybody freeze" came a low sounding voice from them all. That's exactly what Bridger, Ben and Kristen did for a moment while they tried to locate where the voice was coming from. Needless to say that a few other passengers had also stopped to see where the voice was coming from. They didn't know whether it was coming from airport staff or one of the security personnel in the airport or not.  
  
Ben looked at Lucas and saw the kid lift his head towards where the voice was coming from. It was a little different though as they noticed the slight tugging of a smile on the corners of his mouth as he recognized the owner of the voice.  
  
"I thought I told you to freeze Mr" the voice came again as Lucas now took a few steps forward. Bridger and Kristen relaxed slightly as they saw recognition on Lucas's face at the mystery voice. Other passengers had started to move about again and going about their own way.  
  
Lucas now stopped in the middle of the terminal and was facing somebody dressed in a suit about 20 metres away from him. The pair of them looked as though they were about to have the last shoot out at the O.K. Corral all over again.  
  
Lucas played along and put his hands in his pockets as though they were pistols in a gun-holster. He stood stony faced, trying to give the best Clint Eastwood impersonation he could. The other man was now taking on a similar pose.  
  
"Do you feel lucky punk?" Lucas now said in a very poor Clint clichéd sounding voice.  
  
"Damn right I feel lucky" came the curt reply from the other man. Then in the blink of an eye the pair of them had brought their hands out as though they had drawn guns on each other. Lucas blew the tops of his fingers as though he had fired the fatal bullet. The man in the suit clutched at his chest as though being mortally wounded and then did the final death scene before laying flat on the floor as it dead.  
  
Ben found the whole act to be hysterical and even Bridger and Kristen had to chuckle at the antics being played out before them. It was only when Lucas found himself in familiar surroundings and with people that he totally trusted that he gave into his urges to be a kid again and did these crazy and outrageous things.  
  
For a minute you could have been fooled by the young man into thinking that he was just here to have some fun and not here to attend the funeral of his mother.  
  
Lucas walked over to the man who was still laying on the floor. The pair of them were getting strange looks from passers by would thought that they were totally nuts. He playfully kicked the man's leg as if to check whether he was dead or not. Lucas didn't notice the man open his eyes a crack to see where he was.  
  
Without warning, the man's hand snaked out and grabbed at Lucas's ankle, yanking it from underneath him and sending the teenager to the floor. Lucas gave a startled yelp as he landed heavily on his behind.  
  
"Why you....." he said and now started playfully punching into the man on the floor.  
  
The two off them now got up and dusted themselves off and turned to face Ben and the others. They felt slightly embarrassed and saw the raised eyebrow expressions on the faces of the Captain and Kristen.  
  
"Um Captain, Ben and Kristen, this is Henry Brown, mom's butler" Lucas now said as he did the formal introductions.  
  
"Nice to meet you Mr Brown" Bridger now said in perfect politeness.  
  
"Henry please" the butler now interrupted before anybody said anything else. "I am pleased to finally meet all of Lucas's friends. He has told me some about you. Not enough I am afraid though because our contact seems to be less frequent lately"  
  
"Come on Henry, stop the chit-chat, let's get going." Lucas now barked at the older man. The butler however didn't even flinch and knew it all to be part of their playful, friendly natured way.  
  
"Yes Sir" Henry now retorted as he came fully to attention and gave the teenager a full military salute.  
  
Despite the reason they were here, Bridger and the others couldn't help but laugh along with the lines that were coming back and forth between the two friends. They soon came to realise how good a friendship they must have had in the past. They were at least grateful to know that somebody was there for Lucas when he was living at home.  
  
The badgering between Lucas and Henry never stopped from the time they meet each other at the airport to the time, nor during the entire trip to Lucas's mothers house. It was all in good fun and Ben was almost laughing himself silly at times with the words they said to each other. It was good to see Lucas a little relaxed before the traumatic event of his mother's funeral to be held tomorrow.  
  
Soon the car started heading down a long street filled with very expensive houses. Kristen and Bridger found themselves awing in wonder that Lucas had connections to such places. These were the houses that you saw for movie stars and other rich people.  
  
The car now pulled into a very ornate circular driveway that had immaculately clipped lawns and gardens.  
  
Lucas got out and found himself staring at the house in front of him. It brought back so many memories for him, good and bad. There were times he had run through this place laughing all the way when Henry was chasing him and then there were the other times were he would be curled in a ball and whimpering in pain on the floor just before his father delivered another blow to his beaten body for something trivial he had done.  
  
Henry saw the troubled looking eyes and knew that the teenager had mixed feelings about the place. Just like his mother. There were a lot of good and bad memories about her too and now he was being forced to relive them all over again.  
  
"I am here for you Lucas" Henry now said as he came to stand beside the teenager.  
  
Ben and Kristen couldn't help but look at Bridger and note that the butler seemed to be taking over the role that the Captain had been doing for quite a while now. Bridger didn't mind at all though. It was only natural with something as tragic as this that Lucas might turn to someone else for support. If it wasn't him this time that was fine. Bridger was sure that he was still needed. He didn't think that Lucas had asked him to come along only to shut him out when they got there.  
  
At the end of the day Bridger was certain that Lucas was going to need everyone of them to get over his mother's death.  
  
"Everybody else is out at the moment Lucas so we don't need to worry about them for quite a while. I will take you all in and get you settled in your rooms and then we can sit down and talk about a few things" Henry now said in a more sullen tone. The laughter was gone now from his face and his eyes as he contemplated what he was going to have to tell them all very shortly.  
  
"What's been going on here Henry? Tell me the truth" Lucas now asked as he turned to his friend for a source of honesty so he could start to try and understand why something like this had happened.  
  
"Not out here. Let's just go inside and get settled first. There is much to talk about before tomorrow" Henry now said and started leading Lucas and his party towards the front door of the house.  
  
Ben and Bridger had grabbed the luggage between then again and followed. As they neared the door though everyone could hear the distinct sound of a bugle blowing from somewhere in the distance. It was quite a way away and everybody had to listen intently before realising what was making the sound. It was almost like the bugle used on an old fashioned fox-hunt.  
  
Lucas and Henry turned towards each other and swallowed hard, the teenager seeming to lose a little bit of his colour even.  
  
"Oh no" Henry now said as he turned to the boy.  
  
"Oh no" Lucas now repeated in agreement.  
  
Ben, Kristen and Bridger just looked at the pair of them with confusion on their faces.  
  
"The elephants are coming" Lucas now shouted and started running towards the side of the house.  
  
"He's right you know" Henry now said to Ben and the others and then shouted his own "The elephants are coming" and started running after Lucas around the side of the house.  
  
"What the hell are the elephants and why the hell are they coming?" Ben now asked Bridger as he continued to stare after Lucas and the butler. He was sure the stress had gotten to them both and they were just crazy.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED.............  
  
What are the elephants you might ask yourself..... You will have to keep reading. Just a bit of fun before the story really gets going. The next chapter will focus on the funeral and Lucas finding out that his mother was murdered. A whole cast of characters start to come into the picture from Cynthia's family and it becomes a process of elimination of who did what before any other mishaps begin happening.......  
  
I am about to become a real bad Jessica Fletcher and solve the murder mystery. Was it the cook, the maid or the butler or the neighbour across the street?  
  
JULES 


	3. CHAPTER 3

MY MOTHER'S SON  
  
The confused trio of Kristen, Bridger and Ben continued to stand at the front of the immense house for a few seconds before deciding that they had better at least investigate the chaos that about to unfold.  
  
They too headed around the corner of the house in the same direction that Lucas and his butler friend had run in. Once they went around the side of the building they headed to the back of the house.  
  
There were a number of garden beds along the decking. The walls of each were about 3 feet high and it was the nearest the end of the house that Henry and Lucas were crouching down behind.  
  
"What are you hiding from?" Bridger now asked. The three of them were quite unaware of the danger that they were putting themselves in by remaining standing erect.  
  
"Get down" Lucas snapped sharply as he grabbed the front of Ben's shirt and physically pulled him of balance and to the ground behind the garden wall. Bridger and Kristen now crouched down too still not knowing why.  
  
Before Kristen or Bridger could ask the question about why they were hiding behind a three foot high garden wall, a gun shot rang out across the pasture that seemed to go for miles behind the house. It wasn't a normal gun shot though. Sounded more like a rifle or long range weapon.  
  
"It's your turn to talk to him you know" Henry said to Lucas.  
  
"No it's not it's yours. I did it last time" Lucas now shot back at his friend.  
  
"Um I am afraid not my young friend. That was the time before last. This time it's your turn trust me" Henry answered back.  
  
"It is really my turn again?" Lucas asked as though he was being asked to take a walk of the plank.  
  
"Sorry kid, but your younger than me too. Besides, he is always happy to see you." Henry said joking.  
  
"No he's not and besides, he hasn't seen me in a long time remember"  
  
"Yes but that's the great thing about it Lucas. You'll be like the long lost nephew he never had. He'll be over the moon to see you just like I was."  
  
"I very dead long lost nephew" Lucas said sarcastically as he stood up and prepared to head out into the open field. He had walked about ten steps before turning around and shouting at Henry again.  
  
"You are going to owe me big time for this Henry" Lucas said.  
  
"Put it on my tab" Henry said with a laugh.  
  
"Your tab is already more than I earn in a year don't forget" Lucas told him.  
  
"Oh yeah." Henry now said as he thought about it. "Do you take a personal cheque or I.O.U." he said and then started laughing again.  
  
Bridger and the other two were falling more and more behind the conversation. It was like one of those times when you came into the tail end of a conversation and couldn't keep up with what had been happening before you got there.  
  
Lucas didn't walk too much further but now cupped his hands around his mouth and started calling out loudly across the field. "Uncle Wally, it's me Lucas. Uncle Wally?"  
  
Lucas paused from his yelling for a moment to see if there was any answer to his calling out. The answer he got was another stray gun shot that struck some of the bricks and mortar towards the roof of the house. There wasn't any real fear of Lucas getting hit or hurt by the falling debris but the sound made him crouch down towards the ground again and put his hands protectively over the top of his head.  
  
"Is that really you Lucas?" came an older man's voice. "Cyndi's boy?"  
  
"Yes Uncle Wally, it's me Lucas" the teenager shouted out again.  
  
It was now that the three of them crouching behind the garden wall stood up and saw a elderly gentleman emerge from within the stables that were to the right of the house about 200 metres away.  
  
The man was now walking towards the teenager carrying what looked to be an older style rifle. Something that somebody would use during a safari or a hunt of some kind.  
  
The man seemed to be peering at Lucas, a little sceptical that Lucas was really who he said he was. As the man got closer, the recognition on his face became obvious and he broke out in a grin. "LUCAS" he said enthusiastically before leaning the rifle against one of the garden walls and then grabbed the youth around the waist, lifting him up.  
  
"Great to see you again kid. Gee you really have grown some since I saw you last. And put on some weight I notice" the man now said as he looked the teenager over to see what changes had occurred since the last time they had met.  
  
The man's facial expression soon changed though from one of excitement at meeting an old friend to one of sorrow and sentiment as he thought about Lucas's loss and what it meant to both of them.  
  
"Sorry to hear about your mom Lucas. We are really going to miss her around here" he said. "You just let me know if you need anything you hear. Money, somewhere to stay, you just name it. I will write out a blank cheque for you tomorrow. Don't be afraid to ask, you know I would do anything for you and her."  
  
Bridger and Kristen had to smile a little at the older man's offer. At least there were some part's of Lucas's family that still cared about him. Obviously this man thought the world about him just like they did.  
  
"No that will be okay Uncle Wally. I already have a new family now and they are the best. Come over here and I will introduce them to you." Lucas now said, turning towards the others behind the garden.  
  
"This is Captain Nathan Bridger of the SeaQuest, Lieutenant Benjamin Krieg and one of my best friends and Kristen Westphalen, somebody I couldn't do without most of the time." Lucas now said as he introduced his friends to his Uncle.  
  
"This is Uncle Walter, my mom's brother-in-law. He is married to Aunt Beryl. The one who called me on the phone back at the island."  
  
"Where is Aunt Beryl at the moment Uncle?" Lucas now asked as he looked around, hoping to spot the woman.  
  
"Beryl is with your Aunt Carmel doing some of the formal preparations for tomorrow." Wally said with a tone of voice that said he wasn't entirely pleased about what was happening around the place.  
  
"Aunt Carmel is here?" Lucas now asked in surprised and swallowed a little. The woman was positively obnoxious and he didn't like her one bit.  
  
"I am afraid so son, afraid so" Wally said as he too agreed with Lucas's appraisal of the woman's personality.  
  
"I didn't want to spoil your arrival with that little bit of information Lucas" Henry said as he now stepped into the conversation.  
  
"Oh it's okay Uncle, Aunt Beryl already told me on the phone that the vultures had already started arriving" Lucas said with sarcasm as he sat down on the edge of one of the garden walls.  
  
"Well one thing's for sure. With your Aunt Carmel in charge, thing will hardly be boring around here." Uncle Wally now said.  
  
"Amen to that" Henry said in agreement.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry Captain, Kristen and Ben. I seem to be leaving you out of a lot of this. I didn't mean to, it's just been say, let's say crazy since we got here. I think it is fair to say that it is only going to get worse from tomorrow until everything is settled."  
  
"Don't worry about it Lucas. I know you have other things on your mind at the moment. We will be here if and when you need us. But for now, enjoy the time with your family and friends. You can catch up with us anytime"  
  
Bridger now said, reassuring the teenager that is was perfectly alright to be a little off guard at the moment. Over the next few days he wouldn't be surprised at all if Lucas had many lapses in concentration as he struggled to deal with what had just happened in his life.  
  
"Let's all go inside and get something to drink and relax before anybody else gets back. It will probably the last chance for a few days." Henry now said as he used a key to open the French doors on the back of the house.  
  
"Coming Uncle Wally?" Lucas now asked as he walked with Bridger and the others into the spacious house.  
  
"In a minute Lucas. I just want to be sure there is no stray varmints around that shouldn't be. That's what I was hunting for before you know. Caught sight of one of the blighters but didn't get a clear shot at him. I'll come in when the coast is clear and the place is secure." the older man said and started heading back towards the barn again.  
  
Henry and Lucas couldn't help but giggle sightly at Uncle Wally's antics.  
  
"What's with your Uncle Lucas?" Ben now asked when the man was out of earshot.  
  
"Oh nothing Ben, he is just a little crazy. Runs in the family you know so you had better watch out" Lucas now said and winked at his friend.  
  
Once inside Bridger and the other newcomers couldn't help but look around the rooms in stark amazement at the opulence and expense that was laid out before them. Each corner of the room was richly decorated in antiques, tapestries and artefacts of great expense. Cynthia Wolenczak had spared nothing when it came to her living quarters.  
  
"See you still keep things pretty much ship shape around here Henry" Lucas now said. The teenager seemed to take in very little of the wealth around him. Maybe it was because he had grown up in such luxury or maybe it was because he was trying to block it all out.  
  
"Drink anyone?" Henry now asked as he took on his butler role once again.  
  
"Yes please Henry" came Bridger's response. Ben and Kristen nodded their heads in agreement and they all proceeded to tell the man what alcoholic beverage they preferred.  
  
"What about you Lucas?" Henry now enquired.  
  
Lucas was now 18 years old but often turned away from alcohol. Occasionally he had been known to have a beer on the verandah with Bridger when it was very hot or sometimes when he was dragged along to a place by the crew. But normally it wasn't something that Lucas took much pleasure in.  
  
"Just a coke for me today thanks Henry" Lucas said as he wandered around the room and began looking more closely at some of the material things that his mother had collected since he was last here. He seemed very distracted at the moment to the others.  
  
Henry now handed Lucas his coke whilst casting a worried face over the teenager. "Lucas, before we get too comfortable here, there's something I need to tell you. Let's go into the study for a minute."  
  
"I apologize for all the secrecy but we shall only be a few minutes" Henry now said to Bridger and the others. Kristen, Ben and Bridger were left to talk to Uncle Wally.  
  
"So what do you do for a living Wally?" Kristen asked, trying to keep drum up a conversation with the man introduced as Lucas's uncle.  
  
"Oh I have my own company" Wally started to say. He then went into great detail about what the company did and how long he had owned it.  
  
By halfway through the conversation, Bridger had begun to understand why Uncle Wally was given the tag as crazy. The man would be talking calmly about the topic of conversation only to change to his years during the war. His voice would become somewhat louder in volume and he would speak ten times as fast. Then there were mentions of his gun collection and how many he had and where they came from.  
  
Needless to say during the conversation about this gun collection, there was a reference to animal hunting and elephants. Kristen assumed that this was were the line about the "elephants are coming" had come from Lucas and Henry. Obviously it was a topic of conversation that they were familiar with.  
  
By the end of the conversation Uncle Wally was back to talking about his company again as though he had never drifted from the original question. Ben found he just couldn't keep up with the man's constant changing of topic.  
  
Their talk with Uncle Wally was interrupted by the door to the study opening. Lucas seemed to stumble out of the room, very pale faced and looking as though he had been crying. He didn't say a word, only headed towards the liquor bottles where Henry had poured drinks earlier. He poured himself a stiff drink of the first bottle he got a hold of and filled the rest of the glass with ice.  
  
When he turned back towards his friends, he almost looked like he wanted to say something. His face was still very pale. The words never left his tongue and he headed upstairs without acknowledging the other people in the room.  
  
"Lucas?" Bridger said as he started to get out of the chair and follow the teenager. Something was very wrong and he wanted to find out.  
  
"I think he needs some time to himself Captain" Henry said in a sad voice. "I know you care about him as much as I do but he needs some time to work through what I just told him."  
  
"What did you just tell him?" Ben asked. He too was worried about his young friend.  
  
"Cynthia, I mean his mother didn't just die." Henry started to say, letting the words sink in before he dealt the next bombshell. "She was murdered."  
  
"Oh my God" Kristen said as her hands flew to her mouth at such a startling statement. No wonder Lucas had looked so pale when he come out of the room. The news of his mother's death had already been devastating enough. How would the boy cope with the knowledge that his mother had actually died at the hand of someone else.  
  
"How did it happen?" Bridger asked, afraid of what the explicit details might be.  
  
"She was found in her bedroom with a single gun shot wound her head. The left temple to be precise. She probably never even knew someone was in the room." Henry said as he thought about the cold and callous way his former employer had been gunned down whilst she slept. He had left out specific details about her probably being drunk and that's why she never heard her killer approach the bed.  
  
"Poor Lucas" Ben whispered. They all nodded their heads in agreement.  
  
Before there could be anymore discussion on Lucas's state of mind after learning about his mother's murder, the front door opened and in walked two stoutish women.  
  
As they got closer, Ben and the other newcomers could feel the eyes of scrutiny on them as if to say what were they doing here.  
  
"Henry, please tell who these strangers are and what they are doing here?" came the curt question from one of the women. She was a middle aged woman with her hair pulled back into a bun, making her face seemed very stern.  
  
"Now listen here Carmel, you leave these good people alone." Uncle Wally started to say before he was quickly cut off by the same woman.  
  
"No one asked for your opinion Walter. Really Beryl if he wasn't your husband lord knows he would......" she started to say.  
  
Bridger and Kristen now guessed that the stern woman was the one called Carmel that everyone was dreading would turn up sooner or later. The other woman, with a lighter hair colour and softer expression on her face must be the Aunt Beryl that called Lucas on the phone back at the island.  
  
"Beryl, I am going upstairs. You tell that sister of yours if she don't keep her comments to herself and her nose out of everybody else business, I am going to punch her in the snoot. Sister or no sister" Uncle Wally replied angrily and then stomped up the staircase without even saying goodbye to the other people in the room.  
  
It was the first occasion in the short time they had been in the older man's company that they saw a frown on his face. Obviously the woman rubbed him up the wrong way without even really trying hard. Kristen thought the woman might be able to do the same to most people if given the opportunity. She had already decided that she didn't care for the woman's uptight attitude either.  
  
Henry now coughed to interrupt the already tense atmosphere in the room. "Carmel, may I introduce you to Nathan Bridger, Kristen Westphalen and Ben Krieg. They are friends of Lucas. They only arrived a short while ago."  
  
"He's here is he? Now that's surprising given that he doesn't have any contact with her except when it suits him" Carmel now said as she was made aware of the teenager's presence.  
  
Ben bristled immediately at the woman's harsh comments and was about to say something in return when he felt a firm restraining hand on the back of his shirt from Bridger. He and Kristen were just as ticked off as Ben but because they were strangers here they would have to mind their manners a little bit. Even if it meant others in Lucas's family didn't.  
  
"Um Carmel, I should tell you that Nathan has now adopted Lucas" Henry now said, hoping the woman might back off a bit when she realised that these people were the boy's new family.  
  
"And what do you do for a living Mr Bridger?" Carmel said in a cool tone looking at him over the tip of her nose. The woman looked at Kristen too but held her tongue a little towards the red head. Something about Kristen's striking good looks put her off any snide remarks for the time being. Kristen couldn't help but feel the woman's gaze up and down her though.  
  
"Captain Nathan Hale Bridger actually of the U.E.O. flagship SeaQuest," Bridger now said, happy to be able to shove some dirt back in the woman's face without being too obvious about it. "This lovely lady to my right is my partner and wife to be someday and Lucas's stepmother. Kristen Westphalen, medical doctor, bio-chemist and chief medical advisor aboard the SeaQuest. The gentleman standing beside her is Lieutenant Benjamin Krieg, Moral Officer and Chief Supply Officer of the SeaQuest."  
  
The woman couldn't find any words for a second at the list of achievements and occupations was rattled off in front of her.  
  
"Well, it's nice to see that somebody with experience has taken the boy in. Lord knows he needs some discipline you know. Always daydreaming and thinking about other things other than what he is supposed to be doing" Carmel now said in reply.  
  
Kristen was now close to boiling point. If this woman didn't stop degrading Lucas, Kristen just might forget all about being a lady and a guest in the house and punch the woman out anyway.  
  
"Oh we couldn't do without Lucas aboard the boat" Ben now said in his friend's defence.  
  
"Oh really" Carmel said in an over exaggerated manner as if she couldn't possibly believe that the boy was of any real use to anybody.  
  
"Yes, the boy is a genius. Chief Computer Analyst of the SeaQuest. There is not a computer system aboard that he hasn't built or had a major input into. Did you know he also graduated from Stanford College at the age of 14 too?" Ben now said. It was clear that the SeaQuest crew had thrown all caution to the wind with Lucas's family. If they thought he and his friends had come back only to get beaten into ground again by his mixed up and sordid family, they were mistaken. They still had plans to be polite and respect Lucas's wishes but they weren't about to see the boy talked about behind his back.  
  
Bridger and Kristen couldn't help but hide their smiles at Ben's cheerful deliverance of the equivalent of a slap in the face. Even Henry had to stifle back a giggle. He was very pleased that Lucas's new family weren't about to have his name and reputation put down by anybody, even if it was his own estranged family.  
  
The woman assumed to be Aunt Beryl kept her mouth shut the whole time they were standing there. Even when the comments were made about her husband. The woman wasn't game to speak to anybody unless Carmel gave her permission first.  
  
"If you will please excuse us Henry, Ben and I will head upstairs and get unpacked. I trust Nathan would like to check on Lucas to see how he is doing" Kristen said as she looked intently at Bridger to see if he got her hint.  
  
The hint wasn't needed and Bridger had already planned to go up and spend some time with the sullen teenager. If the only company they were have for the rest of the evening was Carmel, then he was only too glad to have only Lucas to talk to.  
  
"I will bring a tray of food up to him in a little while Nathan" Henry now said as he realised he was not going to escape so easily from Carmel's presence. He still had to do the butlery duties of the house and served the guests and dinner. It would be late tonight before he could relax and take his shoes off.  
  
Kristen, Ben and Bridger now headed up the stairs. Henry direct them to their living quarters. Bridger and Kristen had a large bedroom to themselves that was richly and tastefully decorated. Ben had an equally large single room that looked more like a hotel suite than a bedroom.  
  
Bridger thought he might have trouble finding Lucas's bedroom amongst the hallway of doors but then came across a room that had LUCAS across the top of the door in gold lettering. He was pretty certain he had found the right place.  
  
Bridger decided to do the courtesy thing and knock first before entering. He knocked a second time and still there was no answer. He then quietly opened the door and walked inside.  
  
The room was particularly dark once he walked in and he noted that no lights were on. There was a large set of French doors leading from the other side of the room out onto a large and very open balcony area. It was out there, leaning up against the railing and looking out over the gardens and lawns below that he found the person he was looking for.  
  
Lucas was using the railing as a support as he leaned on it. He turned around when he heard the footsteps behind him and tried to wipe away the tears from his eyes before Bridger saw them.  
  
"Are you okay?" Bridger said in a soft voice as he draped a comforting arm around the boy's stiff shoulders.  
  
"Not really" Lucas admitted with honesty. He started staring out across the lawns again without saying anything at first.  
  
A few more minutes of silence passed between then before he spoke again "Why Captain?"  
  
"I don't know Lucas" Bridger replied as he guessed that the teenager was asking why his mother would be murdered.  
  
"It just doesn't make sense you know." Lucas now said. "I mean she was no angel, but she had friends, and enough money to see her through the rest of her life. Why would anybody want to kill her?"  
  
"I can't answer that one pal. I wish I could but I don't know the answer" Bridger said in sympathy.  
  
"Has anybody else arrived yet?" Lucas now asked, trying to find out what had happened since he came upstairs.  
  
"Yes, Ben and Kristen and I got this tongue lashing about you needing more discipline" Bridger said with a grin.  
  
"Aunt Carmel" Lucas said almost as if the words were bitter in his mouth.  
  
"She just make you want to warm up to her doesn't she" Bridger said in truth.  
  
"I am sorry you had to meet her. I don't know what she said to you but ignore her. She just all hot air." Lucas told him. "She has never liked me and doesn't mind making a point to everyone about it."  
  
"Your uncle didn't seem to pleased to see her and went upstairs in a huff. The other lady I assume is Aunt Beryl was too scared to say anything the whole time we were standing there. She wasn't even introduced to us." Bridger said as he explained what had transpired downstairs.  
  
"You'll like Aunt Beryl. She is really nice. We just have to get her away from Aunt Carmel for a while and on her own." Lucas answered.  
  
"I tended to notice Aunt Carmel's cool attitude towards you." Bridger agreed. "You might want to know that Kristen was seeing red like a bull. I had to hold Ben back before he had a couple of sharp lines to say to her himself in your defence. She didn't know what to say for a few minutes."  
  
"Just don't let her get to any of you. No matter what she says about me. I have learnt just to ignore her or give her some of her own medicine. I have heard it all my life Captain" Lucas explained.  
  
"How many days can we stay Captain?" Lucas now asked, changing the topic of conversation all together.  
  
"Why do yo ask. At least a week or so, but I can talk to Bill Noyce if you want to stay longer" Bridger replied, with a little curiosity creeping into his voice.  
  
"I want to stay and find out what happened Captain" Lucas now said with determination in her voice. "It's obvious not too many other people around here are worried about why she was killed. I don't owe her very much for the way she has treated me all of these years but I think I owe her that at least."  
  
"What do you want to do?" Bridger becoming a little more worried about what brash actions Lucas might take to find out who his mother's killer was.  
  
"I will talk to Henry. Find out what was going on a couple of weeks before she died. Somebody has to know something. I will have a look through her office after the funeral and talk to her accountant. Find out if somebody killed her for her money" Lucas said as he explained his plan of action.  
  
"Don't you go doing anything that gets you into trouble you can't get out of" Bridger warned in a friendly way. He knew that this was important to Lucas but he wanted to keep the boy safe all the same. They didn't know who killed his mother and it was very possible that the killer was still around somewhere. If Lucas started poking around in the wrong places he could just become the next proposed target or victim.  
  
END OF PART THREE  
  
SORRY TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE - STILL WORKING ON THE OTHERS AS WELL. HOPE YOU ARE LIKING THE STORY LINE - I KNOW NOT MUCH HAS HAPPENED YET.  
  
JULES 


	4. CHAPTER 4

MY MOTHER'S SON  
  
  
  
Later that evening, Lucas and the rest of the family tried to sit down at the table and have a family dinner together. Of course Kristen, Bridger and Ben were there also.  
  
Henry had only made an occasional appearance to serve the meal before retreating again to the kitchen. Carmel had made loud generalised statements about servitude staff knowing their proper place and their duties. Henry had taken this as a hint that she was talking about him. Although he felt a little more than annoyed, for Lucas's sake and that of his guest's, Henry decided it best to bite his tongue for the time being and saying nothing.  
  
The meal hadn't gone as planned though. Everybody sat in resounding silence for the majority of the time. The silence was only interrupted by the nail-raking voice of Carmel as she spoke to Wally about his short- comings and to Beryl her sister about why she let Wally do half of the things he done. When Carmel had run out of things to say about the hired help and Uncle Wally, she started on Cynthia.  
  
Lucas's had sat through most of the meal, hoping that a mouthful of food would prevent him from saying something he shouldn't. When it came down to Carmel talking about his mother though, Lucas had finally had enough. He didn't see why he had to play this false masquerade of liking the woman just because he was back in her presence.  
  
"And so as you know Cynthia was hopeless with a lot of things..." Carmel was saying out loud.  
  
"You know Aunt Carmel," Lucas said as he got to his feet and picked up his plate and cutlery, "You don't know a damned thing about my mother and what she was like so shut the hell up." he said with annoyance in his voice and with a firmness that even surprised himself.  
  
Everybody at the table was almost sitting with their mouth agape. None of them were angry at him. Most of them had wanted to tell Carmel the same thing, but were just too chicken to do it. Lucas was the last person they thought would say something.  
  
There was a tiredness though and a sadness in his facial expression on Lucas's face that said a thousand words.  
  
"I'll eat in the kitchen with Henry, Captain" Lucas now said to Bridger as he started to walk towards the kitchen door "the company is much better too" he added, looking directly at Carmel when he said it. He was sick of playing polite and nice. He didn't owe her or anybody else an explanation.  
  
"Well I never" Carmel began to stammer after her initial shock of the boy's outburst towards her.  
  
She looked across the table at Uncle Walter though and her expression quickly turned to a frown of displeasure when see saw a grin from ear to ear on the man. He had loved every minute of Lucas's comment and laughed quietly at the gumption he had finally showed towards his overbearing Aunt.  
  
Kristen and Ben had to bite down on their tongues at Lucas's words. They too felt that the woman had deserved everything she got but they were a little worried about the frustration that was beginning to show on Lucas too. They had noticed his tired expression and they knew that he was keeping his emotions too close to himself and not opening up to anybody. He needed to let it hurt if he was going to begin the healing process.  
  
Bridger and his companions had excused themselves not long after Lucas's departure to avoid any more ugliness. Ben and Kristen excused themselves to go to their rooms after a long day. They knew that tomorrow was going to be a rough one on everybody in the house, but more so on Lucas and they wanted to make sure that they were well rested enough to be there for him when he needed it.  
  
Bridger now walked quietly up to the kitchen door to see how Lucas and Henry were doing. When he reached the door, instead of seeing an angry or sad looking teenager, he heard laughter from both Henry and Lucas coming from the other side. When he opened the door slightly, he was able to hear bits and pieces of the conversation that was going on.  
  
They were reminiscing about days gone by when Lucas had lived in the house and times had been much happier. He heard them share escapades that the two of them had had running about the house and playing games together, only to get raked over the coals by Cynthia or Lawrence about the noise or mess that they were making.  
  
Henry certainly had a positive effect on Lucas during this difficult part of the teenager's life. He was glad that Lucas had someone else to turn to outside of the SeaQuest crew. It helped too that Henry was been around when most of the bad stuff happened.  
  
Bridger knocked lightly on the kitchen door, wanting to alert them to his presence before he invited himself into the room. He didn't know if he would be intruding on the conversation or not and loved Lucas enough to respect his privacy and need to talk to other people sometimes.  
  
"Oh Hi Captain" Lucas greeted Bridger as he took a seat at the table. The teenager didn't know if he should be worried that the Captain would be mad at him or not. He didn't feel he had to apologize for anything that he had said or done, but he was a bit nervous all the same.  
  
Bridger could see the uneasiness on the teenager's face as he looked nowhere else but the table in front of him for a few seconds. Bridger decided the best way to show Lucas that he wasn't upset about what had happened at the dinner table was not to mention it at all. He decided just to try and carry on a general conversation and forget all about it and hopefully Lucas would too.  
  
Lucas now decided to tell Henry about the conversation that he and Bridger had earlier on the balcony of his room. "Henry I want to try and dig around a bit while I am here and try and find out what happened to mom." he said bluntly.  
  
Somehow Henry knew the subject would crop up anyway, he just hadn't expected it this early in proceedings. "You know that the police department are carrying out an investigation of their own" Henry started to say, not wanting to persuade his young friend that such things were better left alone to other who knew more about it.  
  
"And you think that they are doing an adequate job Henry?" Lucas now demanded of Henry already knowing the answer before he asked the question. "I've been here a day and I haven't seen anybody here asking questions about what happened or trying to find out mom's killer."  
  
"They were here Lucas. A Captain Jacobson is heading the investigation. He was here with a tribe of cops sifting through everything for fingerprints and clues. They took your mom's night clothes and all the bedding for testing for evidence. They were very thorough as far as a I could see. I could ring him if you like and get him to update us on what he has found so-far with the investigation." Henry explained.  
  
"I know what you are trying to do Henry, and although a feel like punching something right now, I know that I can't just go off on my own. But I don't want somebody else to find the guy and tell me who done it. I want to find out who it was and then ask why they did it. I owe my mother that much as a son." Lucas said as he rubbed tiredly as his eyes.  
  
"I think it's all time we called it a night Lucas" Henry said gently, genuinely worried that Lucas was going to burn himself with his quest to search for his mother's killer. "We still have a lot of emotions to deal with tomorrow" he added, knowing that the next day was going to be particularly difficult on the teenager.  
  
"Yeah" Lucas agreed, recognizing the signs of fatigue that were in his muscles. He had barely slept since receiving the first telephone call and it was all beginning to catch up on him.  
  
"Goodnight all" he said, not worrying about talking further about any of the arrangements for tomorrow. At the moment he didn't really care. He would deal with everything as it came.  
  
Bridger gestured good night to the tired young man and both he and Henry remained seated at the table as they watched the teenager head out of the kitchen and upstairs.  
  
"He's really holding everything in at the moment" Henry now said with concern etched in his words. "I don't know how he is going to cope tomorrow. I know he is going to be upset but I have to be honest that I am worried about him."  
  
"Yeah, he hasn't been sleeping very well since we left the island," Bridger replied, filling Henry in about some of Lucas's reactions to the news before they had come here. "We just all need to be there for him if he needs us. All this animosity between him and Carmel isn't helping any though."  
  
"Oh hopefully tomorrow she will be too busy worried about showing herself off to the guests at the wake and telling them about how she has been there to make sure that everything runs smoothly. She will be too busy with her own reputation and self-pity to worry Lucas too much. I doubt she will even be that upset that it is her sister that is being buried tomorrow. That's just the kind of person she is." Henry said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.  
  
"How many people are you expecting at the funeral and the wake?" Bridger now asked, out of curiosity and an overwhelming urge to make sure that things didn't get too out of control tomorrow.  
  
"Oh not too many more than are here in the house tonight Nathan" Henry replied. "As you might have guessed, Lucas will be the first to admit that his mother wasn't exactly Miss Popularity with some people. There are a few that would probably say that it was the best thing that could have happened."  
  
"But you know, I lived with that woman over the years, through the good times and the bad. When she first moved in with Lucas's father Lawrence, you couldn't have found a nicer, friendlier woman than Cynthia Holt. When she found out she was expecting a baby, even Lawrence seemed genuinely pleased. Everything seemed to be okay in the family up until Lucas about six years old. That's when Lawrence found himself having major financial difficulties through bad mismanagement and large stock losses at this company World Power."  
  
"That's when he started drinking and coming home and taking his frustrations out on his family. At first it was just Cynthia he would yell out about her frivolous spending and how her passion for a luxurious lifestyle was sending him broker by the day. After a while though, the yelling and physical abuse was just part of the norm. So much so that Cynthia just took it as a routine day. That's when Lawrence decided to turn his frustrations towards Lucas. Cynthia didn't cringe anymore when he wheeled his fist at her or shouted in her face. Lucas, who was six, turning seven at the time did however cringe at the mere presence of his angry father. So much so that there were times that he was just frozen to the spot due to his fear of Lawrence. That made him not only a vulnerable target because of his age and his fear, but an easy one because Lawrence's fists easily reached his little body when he lashed out." Henry said with a mixture of both sadness and anger in his voice.  
  
Henry now looked at Bridger and saw a question forming on the Captain's face as he listened to what had happened to Lucas's family over the years. Bridger had heard the explanations and tales of what had happened on numerous occasions. This version though was by someone else and a different opinion all together about the abuse. No matter how many times he heard the same story, it never got any easier to listen to it and not get angry at Lawrence or feel incredibly sorrow and pity for Lucas who had bore it all in silence for many years.  
  
"I can see it written on your face Captain. Don't worry I am not offended at all. I know your dying to ask if I knew it was happening, why didn't I stop it? I would be offended if you didn't ask it" Henry said as be came to the realisation that Lucas had found a truly great friend in Captain Bridger of the SeaQuest.  
  
"Did you?" Bridger found himself asking, not making judgment on the man or his actions of the day.  
  
Henry now stood up and lifted his shirt to show a long scar that extended from his left side all the way down his chest towards his lower abdomen. The scar was at least ten centimetres long and that was the part that could be seen by the naked eye. The scar continued on underneath Henry's trousers for a few more centimetres. It looked as though it had been caused by a sharp instrument such as a knife. It would have needed many stitches to seal the long gash and would have been terribly painful at the time.  
  
"That's from the first time I tried to stop Lawrence from hitting Lucas" Henry said. He put his shirt down and lifted his foot up onto the chair and lifted his trouser leg. As Bridger looked at the left leg, it was possible to see a deeper more permanent scarring pattern from knee to ankle, signalling that the leg had been badly broken at one point in time.  
  
"That was the last time I tried to shield Lucas from Lawrence. Took six months to be able to use my leg probably without crutches again. Not that I wouldn't have done it. But with Lawrence there was just no reasoning with him. He didn't seem to understand that he wasn't allowed to do that to Lucas or his family. After I was able to leave the hospital, Cynthia moved out with Lucas on her own. I came with her and we came here to live in this place."  
  
"I am sorry for the injuries you received, but truly thank you for trying to help Lucas Henry" Bridger now said, genuinely awed by the man's sacrifice for someone who needed his help.  
  
Bridger now looked at his watch and noticed the late hour. He knew that he would need to get some rest himself too if he was to be ready for Lucas tomorrow. "Well, I'll call it a night Henry."  
  
"Goodnight Nathan" Henry responded, thankful that he was able to talk to someone who cared as much about Lucas as he did.  
  
Nathan had briefly stopped by Lucas's door on his way to his own room, and even held his hand up ready to knock before entering. He held back though on second though in case the boy was asleep. He didn't want to disturb what rest the teenager was getting at the moment. He wanted to check to see if his was alright. He tried turning the door handle and was a little surprised to find it locked. He told himself that the boy deserved some privacy and time to himself. He was pretty sure that the boy would be safe in his own room for the night. He then went to his own room and quickly found himself asleep.  
  
Lucas had heard the footsteps outside his bedroom door and had even guessed that it was the Captain in the hallway. That's exactly the reason why he had taken the precautions to lock the door when he entered the room earlier. His emotions were all over the place. When he had come from the kitchen and talking to Henry about the investigation into his mother's death, all of the raw anger that he felt had turned into a pool of tears and frustration as soon as he had locked the door behind him. He had laid on his bed, waiting to see if the crying would help him fall asleep.  
  
An hour and a half after Lucas had heard Bridger's footsteps in the hallway, the teenager opened the doors to his balcony and stepped out onto it, knowing that sleep wasn't going to come easily that night if at all. He sat down on a chair and started thinking about the times he had spent with his mother. Trying to work out why they had drifted so far apart over the years. Was it all his father's fault that they didn't talk. Was his father to blame for his not visiting or even writing a letter to her . Somehow, as much as he tried to lay the blame on his father, the voice inside his head kept reminding him that he was an adult now and capable of making decisions himself. He could make the decision to visit his mother when he was on shore leave and he could make the decision to write a letter or send a letter, hell even make a phone call once in a while. But he didn't make any of those decisions.  
  
As the night wore on into the wee hours of the morning, Lucas found less and less fault in his father's role in all of this and more and more on him as a failing son. He knew his mother had drank heavily after the divorce from Lawrence. And she had said good riddance to Lawrence the day he was locked up behind bars. She had even told Lucas in the past that he was just as responsible for some of the abuse that he had endured over the years.  
  
Whether or not that was true was a question he had been asking himself the day he signed on SeaQuest. But all the answers and questions in the world didn't make up for him not making the time to try and repair things between him and his mother. If it took him to make the first move or make the first contact, then why didn't he? Was he so ashamed of his family that he just shunned them all. He should have made more of an effort, even it wasn't successful the first few times. He should have kept trying and trying. Now he would never get that chance and such a realisation almost tore his heart out.  
  
It was all of these thoughts running through his head that kept his brain ticking over until those wee small hours of the morning. He walked back inside from the balcony, barely unaware that so much time had pasted. He had been so caught up in his memories that the hours seemed to be only minutes. He looked at the clock on the wall across the other side of the room and saw that the hands showed 5:30am. He would have about an hour an a half before he would have to get up and start making preparations for the long day ahead.  
  
He sat down in one of the arm chairs beside his bed and promptly fell into a deep sleep. It was about an hour later when a sharp knock at the door startled him awake. The door was still locked from the inside.  
  
Lucas slowly got to his feet and answered the knock to find his SeaQuest friend Ben Krieg standing at the door. He was too tired to even manage a half-genuine smile at the man this morning.  
  
"Boy Lucas you really look tired" Ben said as he stated the blatantly obvious. "Didn't you sleep very well last night?" he now asked, unaware of the thoughts from the night before.  
  
"Not really" Lucas answered in a uninterested tone of voice. "Let's go and get some coffee" he now said, trying to deflect attention from himself. He knew he was going to get a chewing out from Bridger and Kristen about how tired he looked, and probably Henry too he told himself.  
  
Whatever comments Kristen and Bridger had on the ends of the tongues this morning, quickly fell away as Lucas walked into the dining room and headed towards the coffee pot. They could see the fatigue and the results of a mostly sleepless night but thought today was not the time to chastise the teenager. Hopefully if the funeral didn't carry on too long Lucas would be able to rest later on in the day before the wake.  
  
The rest of the morning before the commencement of the funeral seemed to go by in a haze for Lucas. He scarcely remembered talking to Henry and Bridger about what his wishes were in regards to his mother's resting place.  
  
They had gotten to the church service a lot earlier than everybody else so that Lucas could view his mother if he so wished. The undertake had made sure that all best make-up processes had been carried out that Lucas wouldn't even notice the injury that caused his mother's death. She was supposed to appear as though in an eternal sleep rather than being dead.  
  
Lucas hadn't really made up his mind whether or not he wanted to see his mother before they sealed the coffin. As he arrived at the church he had assured Kristen and Bridger that he was emotionally up to the challenge.  
  
As he approached the back of the church though and he came nearer to the room where his mother's coffin lay, the emotions hit him full force and he found himself pausing before the entering the doorway. He barely felt his knees give way as he sank to the floor as he tried to hold back the tears.  
  
Bridger and Henry were there to support him in his weakness though. Kristen and Ben made the pathway clear as the teenager was lead out into the open for some space and fresh air to regain his composure.  
  
At the service itself, Lucas sat in between Bridger and Kristen with Henry and Ben close by if they were needed. A few people got up to say some words about Cynthia's life. Most of it of course about the good parts. Lucas himself had planned to get up and say something for his mother, but when it came to do it his legs felt like jelly. He just gave a long sigh and laid his head on Kristen's shoulder as the tears flowed down his face. Kristen was more than happy to put a comforting arm around his trembling shoulders. She couldn't help but cry tears of her own, not for Cynthia so much but for the wonderful young man she was leaving behind.  
  
Ben and Henry had tried to keep the stream of well-wishers and mourners for Lucas to the absolute minimum. Lucas could briefly remember shaking the hands of a few people as they left the church service.  
  
When the church service was over it was them on to the cemetery and a brief grave-side service to lower the coffin and say the final goodbyes.  
  
Aunt Beryl had been as upset as Lucas during some part of the services. Uncle Wally was there to support her. Aunt Carmel stood beside her husband Carl with a stoic look on her face.  
  
Just as the final prayers were being read by the minister, Lucas's attention was distracted from the proceedings by the appearance of a black Mercedes. He watched intently as the car pulled up some distance from the actual service. Two people, a man and a woman could be seen getting out from the vehicle and walking towards the small gathering beside Cynthia's grave.  
  
Bridger had not known anything was wrong at first. He had his arm around Lucas as he stood beside the teenager. Kristen and Ben stood on the boy's right side for support. As soon as Lucas recognized who the pair were, Bridger could feel the boy's shoulders tense up.  
  
Lucas leaned back towards Henry "Who the hell invited them Henry?" he demanded, not able to hide the contempt from his voice.  
  
"I don't know Lucas, I am sorry, I didn't know they would be here" Henry replied.  
  
Before Ben or Henry could move to stop the pair, they had already approached the gathering and were now only a few feet from Lucas. Kristen didn't recognize either of them and nobody had said who they were just yet.  
  
Something about the woman's features though sent a shiver up Bridger's spine. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but it was almost as if he had seen her somewhere before.  
  
"Lucas, I am so sorry about your mother's passing" the woman now said as she attempted to put her hand on the boy's shoulder. Lucas however was not having a bar of this woman anywhere near him and pulled away violently, causing Bridger to take a step back in order to maintain his balance.  
  
"Tsk Tsk, you still don't hold a grudge against me do you Lucas?" the woman asked with an air of sarcasm in her words.  
  
"You are not welcome here so get out" Lucas shouted back angrily not wanting to hear anything she had to say.  
  
Before anybody could react, there was a resound slap as the woman's hand struck the side of the boy's face.  
  
Lucas lifted his hand to the reddened area but refused to display the utter shock that he felt at the physical blow he received.  
  
Both Ben and Bridger were about to demand why the woman had struck him but Henry shook his head briefly at both of them signalling that everything was under control.  
  
The woman herself now seemed to show her own shock at what she had done. "Lucas...I am sorry...I don't know what came over me" she began to say.  
  
"Hitting people just runs in your family" Lucas said back through clenched teeth and then walked away from the entire group, not wanting to say anything more to her or even give her one more second of his time.  
  
"We will attend the reading of the will tomorrow" the woman coolly told Henry and then turned around and headed back towards the car with the man. The fellow had not said a word during the whole episode nor tried to introduce himself to anybody.  
  
"The vultures are out already" Carmel could be heard to say a little too loud as she showed her own dislike of the woman. With Carmel it was just assumed that she didn't like very many people at all.  
  
But Lucas's reaction had been a total surprise and a little worrisome.  
  
"Let's head back to the house Beryl" Carmel now said as she tried to walk away from the tense situation. Beryl nodded at Uncle Wally signalling that she too wanted to head back.  
  
That just left Henry, Ben Kristen and Bridger standing beside Cynthia's grave with the minister. He too had been a little left in the dark by the appearance of the man and woman. Lucas was standing a few hundred metres away beside a few other headstones in the cemetery. The minister bid his goodbyes to them and headed over towards the boy, happy enough for the service to be completed.  
  
"Who was that woman and why did she hit Lucas?" Ben now asked Henry. The question was on everybody's lips.  
  
"Her name is Amanda. His name is Jerry. She is Lawrence's sister." Henry replied, knowing that the crew wouldn't take long to make the connection.  
  
Bridger now nodded his head as it struck him why the woman had looked so familiar. She looking very much like her brother, even down to the hair colouring and the facial features. No wonder Lucas couldn't stand to be around her. Every time he looked at her all he saw was his father.  
  
Kristen looked over towards Lucas and saw that the minister had already walked away. The teenager was now standing on his own looking back towards them around the grave.  
  
The workmen were standing nearby waiting for everybody to leave before they started filling in the grave. Kristen wanted Lucas to be away from that if possible. She didn't think that that was something that he needed to see.  
  
"I should really go and get things ready for the wake" Henry now said.  
  
"I'll go and talk to Lucas" Ben offered, dead parties not really being his scene. He didn't know why they had parties for dead people. It seemed like such a silly idea. Normally he wasn't one to knock back a party invitation but these sort of parties just left him feeling uncomfortable.  
  
"We can go and help you Henry", Kristen offered, indicating her and Bridger. The Captain looked to the teenager and felt that he should be there for Lucas but then seeing the almost pleading look on Ben's face to get out of being involved in such things, nodded his head in agreement. Given the circumstances maybe Ben was the best person for Lucas to be with right now.  
  
Ben headed off towards Lucas whilst Bridger and Kristen followed Henry back towards the house.  
  
The workman now moved in and began the task of filling in the giant hole. Ben made sure that Lucas was well out of view while that was all happening.  
  
An hour or so later, Ben suddenly appeared amidst the preparations for the wake. Bridger and Kristen were helping Henry to lay out the plates of food before everybody arrived.  
  
"Where's Lucas" Bridger asked. He hadn't even heard Ben or him come back from outside.  
  
"Upstairs in his room, that's why I came to see Kristen. I think she should take a look at him for a minute." Ben said with concern in his voice.  
  
Kristen and Bridger immediately excused themselves for a few minutes and headed up the stairs to Lucas's room. When they got there, Ben carefully opened the door and they all went inside.  
  
Upon entering, everybody made sure that they were extremely quiet. They could see Lucas stretched out on his bed, apparently sleeping.  
  
Ben pulled Bridger and Kristen away from the bed for a few seconds to explain what had happened since leaving the gravesite.  
  
"We went back to the grave after the workmen had finished covering in the hole" Ben said. "At first we just sat there in silence. He didn't say anything and I just waited for as long as he needed me."  
  
"After a while he started to feel a bit cold. I told him to come inside so we did. He wanted to use the back door to avoid everybody. I just thought you should look him over Kristen. He looked so tired and distressed out there just before. I am just worried about him." Ben said honestly.  
  
Kristen smiled at Ben's openness. It didn't take a genius to work out that Ben cared for Lucas just as she and Bridger and Henry did. She now walked over towards the bed to try and gauge if it was just emotions that was wrong with Lucas.  
  
She felt a lump rising in her throat as she gazed down at the sleeping figure. His blond hair was fanned out on the white pillow as he slept. His face was free of all worry and sadness at the moment, almost untouched. It was slightly red from his crying but no other unnatural shades of colour that Kristen could see.  
  
She put the back of her hand to his cheek to feel for warmth and was relieved when she felt a normal skin temperature. Lucas mumbled something incoherent at the touch to his face and now turned over on his side and fell into a much deeper sleep.  
  
Bridger busied himself with taking the boy's shoes and socks off while Kristen loosened the tie around his neck and removed his suit jacket. He hadn't awoken during any of their administrations.  
  
Once they were sure that he was comfortable enough, Kristen draped a warm quilt from the bed over his sleeping form and the three of them left Lucas to sleep in peace.  
  
When they were in the hallway again, Kristen informed them that there was nothing wrong with him that a nice long sleep wouldn't fix. She made a note to tell Henry and the others not to disturb the teenager until he woke on his own later on.  
  
  
  
TO BE CONTINUED ................... LOTS MORE TO BE ADDED - THE ELFY STUFF TO COME SOON. STILL TRYING TO INTRODUCE THE CAST OF CHARACTERS. I THINK THAT'S ALL OF THEM. NOW TO DO THE WHO DONE IT BITS AND WHY THEY MIGHT HAVE AND SO FORTH...........  
  
I STILL HAVEN'T GOT MY URGE TO WRITE YET AND THAT'S WHY I HAVEN'T FINISHED THE XMAS STORY FINISHED YET - MAYBE IT WILL BE XMAS IN JULY - WILL TRY TO UPDATE AGAIN SOON....  
  
JULES 


	5. CHAPTER 5

**MY MOTHER'S SON**

**Authors Note: In this story it is assumed that Lawrence Wolenczak is in jail for the abuse of his son. Everything about Lucas's mother is made up except for her name from other stories.**

Sara: Yep, Elfy stuff to come, towards the end of this chapter. Glad you like the last chapter. Please keep reading.

Shady Lady – Yes, how dare she. When I was trying to come up with relatives, one for Lawrence was natural, but it took a while to think of a sister. The slap across

Lucas's face was just an add in to heighten the tension of the moment. But I think it worked. Ben has been given full permission to help you. LOL

Jess – Sorry for the long delay – humble apologizes. No excuse – like my other stories, just no time to write and other fandoms and family etc.

Kiddo – Here is the next chapter of this one for you. Thanks for reading all of my stories. Makes me want to write more to hear all the readers out there review.

Cadnobach – Thank you so much for the wonderful review. Glad you like my original characters and liked the way they were introduced. So happy that it wasn't confusing for everyone, because that was an initial concern. I have always wanted to a Cynthia story, but paint her in a slightly different light. She is no angel, but sometimes there is a reason for someone's personality and the way they are.

Kas – Writing more. So you want to know what's going on – this chapter will probably cause more questions than answers, but I hope you enjoy it.

Author Note – Like "The Secret Device" – no excuse or alibi for my updating delay. Real life and my family emergencies that you don't want to know about.

_**recap of what happened in the last chapter:**_

Bridger had not known anything was wrong at first. He had his arm around Lucas as he stood beside the teenager. Kristen and Ben stood on the boy's right side for support. As soon as Lucas recognized who the pair were, Bridger could feel the boy's shoulders tense up.

Lucas leaned back towards Henry "Who the hell invited them Henry?" he demanded, not able to hide the contempt from his voice.

"I don't know Lucas, I am sorry, I didn't know they would be here" Henry replied.

Before Ben or Henry could move to stop the pair, they had already approached the gathering and were now only a few feet from Lucas. Kristen didn't recognize either of them and nobody had said who they were just yet.

Something about the woman's features though sent a shiver up Bridger's spine. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but it was almost as if he had seen her somewhere before.

"Lucas, I am so sorry about your mother's passing" the woman now said as she attempted to put her hand on the boy's shoulder. Lucas however was not having a bar of this woman anywhere near him and pulled away violently, causing Bridger to take a step back in order to maintain his balance.

"Tsk Tsk, you still don't hold a grudge against me do you Lucas?" the woman asked with an air of sarcasm in her words.

"You are not welcome here so get out" Lucas shouted back angrily not wanting to hear anything she had to say.

Before anybody could react, there was a resound slap as the woman's hand struck the side of the boy's face.

Lucas lifted his hand to the reddened area but refused to display the utter shock that he felt at the physical blow he received.

Both Ben and Bridger were about to demand why the woman had struck him but Henry shook his head briefly at both of them signalling that everything was under control.

The woman herself now seemed to show her own shock at what she had done.

"Lucas.......I am sorry.........I don't know what came over me" she began to say.

"Hitting people just runs in your family" Lucas said back through clenched teeth and then walked away from the entire group, not wanting to say anything more to her or even give her one more second of his time.

"We will attend the reading of the will tomorrow" the woman coolly told Henry and then turned around and headed back towards the car with the man. The fellow had not said a word during the whole episode nor tried to introduce himself to anybody.

"The vultures are out already" Carmel could be heard to say a little too loud as she showed her own dislike of the woman. With Carmel it was just assumed that she didn't like very many people at all.

But Lucas's reaction had been a total surprise and a little worrisome.

"Let's head back to the house Beryl" Carmel now said as she tried to walk away from the tense situation. Beryl nodded at Uncle Wally signalling that she too wanted to head back.

That just left Henry, Ben Kristen and Bridger standing beside Cynthia's grave with the minister. He too had been a little left in the dark by the appearance of the man and woman. Lucas was standing a few hundred metres away beside a few other headstones in the cemetery. The minister bid his goodbyes to them and headed over towards the boy, happy enough for the service to be completed.

"Who was that woman and why did she hit Lucas?" Ben now asked Henry. The question was on everybody's lips.

"Her name is Amanda. His name is Jerry. She is Lawrence's sister." Henry replied, knowing that the crew wouldn't take long to make the connection. Bridger now nodded his head as it struck him why the woman had looked so familiar.

She looking very much like her brother, even down to the hair colouring and the facial features. No wonder Lucas couldn't stand to be around her. Every time he looked at her all he saw was his father.

Kristen looked over towards Lucas and saw that the minister had already walked away. The teenager was now standing on his own looking back towards them around the grave.

The workmen were standing nearby waiting for everybody to leave before they started filling in the grave. Kristen wanted Lucas to be away from that if possible. She didn't think that that was something that he needed to see.

"I should really go and get things ready for the wake" Henry now said.

"I'll go and talk to Lucas" Ben offered, dead parties not really being his scene. He didn't know why they had parties for dead people. It seemed like such a silly idea. Normally he wasn't one to knock back a party invitation but these sort of parties just left him feeling uncomfortable.

"We can go and help you Henry", Kristen offered, indicating her and Bridger. The Captain looked to the teenager and felt that he should be there for Lucas but then seeing the almost pleading look on Ben's face to get out of being involved in such things, nodded his head in agreement. Given the circumstances maybe Ben was thebest person for Lucas to be with right now.

Ben headed off towards Lucas whilst Bridger and Kristen followed Henry back towards the house. The workman now moved in and began the task of filling in the giant hole.

Ben made sure that Lucas was well out of view while that was all happening.

An hour or so later, Ben suddenly appeared amidst the preparations for the wake. Bridger and Kristen were helping Henry to lay out the plates of food before everybody arrived.

"Where's Lucas" Bridger asked. He hadn't even heard Ben or him come back from outside.

"Upstairs in his room, that's why I came to see Kristen. I think she should take a look at him for a minute." Ben said with concern in his voice.

Kristen and Bridger immediately excused themselves for a few minutes and headed up the stairs to Lucas's room. When they got there, Ben carefully opened the door and they all went inside.

Upon entering, everybody made sure that they were extremely quiet. They could see Lucas stretched out on his bed, apparently sleeping.  Ben pulled Bridger and Kristen away from the bed for a few seconds to explain what had happened since leaving the gravesite.

"We went back to the grave after the workmen had finished covering in the hole" Ben said. "At first we just sat there in silence. He didn't say anything and I just waited for as long as he needed me."

"After a while he started to feel a bit cold. I told him to come inside so we did. He wanted to use the back door to avoid everybody. I just thought you should look him over Kristen. He looked so tired and distressed out there just before. I am just worried about him." Ben said honestly.

Kristen smiled at Ben's openness. It didn't take a genius to work out that Ben cared for Lucas just as she and Bridger and Henry did. She now walked over towards the bed to try and gauge if it was just emotions that was wrong with Lucas.

She felt a lump rising in her throat as she gazed down at the sleeping figure. His blond hair was fanned out on the white pillow as he slept. His face was free of all worry and sadness at the moment, almost untouched. It was slightly red from his crying but no other unnatural shades of colour that Kristen could see.

She put the back of her hand to his cheek to feel for warmth and was relieved when she felt a normal skin temperature. Lucas mumbled something incoherent at the touch to his face and now turned over on his side and fell into a much deeper sleep.

Bridger busied himself with taking the boy's shoes and socks off while Kristen loosened the tie around his neck and removed his suit jacket. He hadn't awoken during any of their administrations.

Once they were sure that he was comfortable enough, Kristen draped a warm quilt from the bed over his sleeping form and the three of them left Lucas to sleep in peace.

When they were in the hallway again, Kristen informed them that there was nothing wrong with him that a nice long sleep wouldn't fix. She made a note to tell Henry and the others not to disturb the teenager until he woke on his own later on.

_**story now continues over the page:**_

A few hours later and Lucas emerged from his room reluctantly, knowing he would have to spend some time facing his incorrigible relatives at his mother's wake.

The teenager had dressed in a navy blue suit, not black. He knew it was the traditional colour, but he didn't want to feel anymore depressed than he already was about his mother's death.

By the time someone noticed, he was descending the main staircase. There were about thirty people in the room at present and he was sure he only knew about 10 of them. He had no idea of who might have invited the other 20 or so virtual strangers, but at the moment he didn't really care.

"Lucas," Henry said as he emerged from the chaotic kitchen, bearing another tray of finger foods. No sooner had he taken a step towards the hoards, then Aunt Carmel was already reaching out with a chubby hand towards the delectable morsels.

Henry decided to throw caution to the wind and attempt to get on her bad side right from the beginning that night. Lucas's mother would not have taken issue with such a ploy had she been alive, and he had already declared that Carmel had outstayed her welcome and needed to be brought down a peg or two.

"Sticking to your diet again I see, Madam," he whispered so that only a select few heard the comment, mostly Bridger and Kristen and Ben who had no intention of mingling with the unfamiliar crowd.

Ben had tried to laugh at the statement and had to have a drink to wash down the morsel of food that had caught in his throat as a result. He gave Lucas a warm smile and quick smirk as the teenager appeared at his side to catch the tail end of the bickering between the Butler and Aunt Carmel.

"Aren't you supposed to be working," Carmel hissed, before putting on a fake smile at a guest who had noticed the displeased look on her face. To avoid Henry altogether, she now waved at a complete stranger across the room, as though being friends and went to join them.

"Be careful, Madam, you don't want to hurry too much in your condition," Henry said with empathy in his voice. Ben had almost lost himself with that comment.  He was liking this Henry more and more. Bridger was trying to hide his own smirk and Kristen was giving him a look of her own disapproval whilst trying to look serious as well.

The devil like glance he had received from Carmel was priceless and Henry had scurried away before she chose to make a spectacle of herself in front of everyone.

He didn't want to upset the wake for Lucas's sake and respected Cynthia's memory too much.  When the three of them look towards Lucas, they could see him struggling to gain a smile. The episode had been funny enough, but it was plain to see that Lucas didn't feel like being cheered up at the moment.

"I think I will just walk around and say hello to a few people I know," Lucas said in a quiet voice, knowing that greeting anybody was the last thing he really wanted to be doing.

For the next half an hour the wake seemed to proceed without any incident. Everyone was in a subdued mood or at least tried to act like they were. Most of them were there for the free wine and food. There were those that thought Cynthia's loss was not such a huge deal.

Things were about to change though when Carmel suddenly appeared again near Lucas. She almost appeared pre-occupied, as though she was waiting for something to happen.

"How are you holding up, Lucas?" she had asked her nephew, but didn't look at him as she spoke, but rather casing the room as though looking for a familiar face.

"Alright I guess," Lucas replied, not having any idea what to really say when someone asked him that question. He didn't know how people expected him to be after losing someone he had barely known. Was he supposed to act like the grieving, lost son, or was he to appear upset and saddened, but distant and indifferent because of the lack of recent contact?

Aunt Beryl had seen Lucas too and her heart truly went out to the young man who did seem to be trying to please everyone, but not admitting the truth to his family or friends or even himself about how he truly felt towards his mother. To her, he did seem lost, not knowing what the future held or who to trust.

She was glad to see his SeaQuest friends were determined to stick by him through the entire mix of emotions. Beryl had come to like Bridger and Kristen, hoping that they could somehow become the family that Lucas had been missing for so long in his life.

She didn't quite know how to take Ben just yet, with his jokes and carefree personality, but decided his energy would prove a positive influence over Lucas when he was feeling so down.

Henry had almost finished serving food and drinks, and now brought out one final tray holding 6 wine flutes. Five of them were plain crystal, one had a patterned stem. He passed Lucas and his friends and offered to all, surprised when the teenager reached out to take one of the glasses.

In fact, they were all surprised to see Lucas reach for the alcoholic drink, but apparently none more so than Aunt Carmel. With an overacted display, she appeared to lose her footing all of a sudden and without warning, bumped hard against Lucas who in turn lost his own balance and the wine glass from his hand.

The glass and its contents shattered on the floor, causing the crowd to turn and go silent. Lucas was still seated on the floor, with Bridger holding out a hand and offering to help him up. Ben was looking back at Carmel, trying to work out why she had fallen against him like that. Kristen expression was one of downright dislike.

"Are you alright, Lucas?" Henry had asked, somehow avoiding the large woman himself but not being able to prevent her bulky frame from falling against the leaner teenager. "Clumsy cow," was also muttered underneath his breath somewhere.

"Oh, Lucas, I am truly sorry. I don't know what come over me. My ankle seemed to give way on me. I apologise and hope I didn't ruin your shirt?" Carmel now said.

"I am fine," Lucas said as he got to his feet and brushed away the glass shards from his navy jacket. The front of the jacket was turning dark from the wine and no doubt the fabric would dry stiff if not treated.

Lucas saw this as his one opportunity to escape the rest of the proceedings when he had been trying to come up with a plausible story. He could have said a million things, like he was tired and that he had other things to do, which were all partly true.

"If you'll all excuse me, I think I will change," he said, not waiting for an answer from Kristen or Bridger. Ben didn't like the situation at all and had attempted to follow the teenager to check on him.

Lucas had partly expected this to happen. If not Ben, then Bridger, but he had the same response planned out for either of them or anybody else that wanted to intrude.

"No thanks, Ben," he said dismissively and continued up the stairs with his back turned towards the wake.

Later that night, towards midnight, after everyone had gone from the house except the guests staying there, Kristen padded along the corridor, wanting to check for herself how Lucas was coping.

He had not re-emerged from his room after walking up the stairs and Nathan's and Ben's attempts to knock on the door went unanswered. When they had become increasingly worried and tried to open the door, they found it locked. A sure sign that the teenager was not welcoming of any company that night.

Reluctantly they had decided to wait to see how the night progressed, although the three of them could not easily sleep, knowing that Lucas was just down the hall, tearing himself up inside and refusing to talk about it.

Even Henry had tried to reason with the teenager through the locked door to let them in, but his pleas also went unanswered. It was Henry who had alerted Kristen a few moments ago that Lucas's bedroom door was not open and where suspected he might had taken solace.

Bridger, Ben and Henry had all wanted to go with the doctor to see Lucas, but she had argued that Lucas would only be defensive again if they all turned up looking for him and pushing him into talking.

Lucas needed to recognize his own feelings for himself and show them when he was ready. If not today, then another. There wasn't a set timetable for grief and family and friends would just have to wait until Lucas was prepared to let them help him.

Kristen descended the stairs and before reaching the bottom could hear sound coming from a small room off to her left. She continued to be silent, not wanting to intrude on what could be a private moment. As she got closer, she noticed a long sofa in the room and a projector of some description mounted to the ceiling.

The projector was working and focusing images on the far wall. Lucas was sitting in the middle of the sofa, with plenty of room on either side from the side arms. He appeared to be sitting up straight and watching the images with great concentration.

Kristen watched the footage for a few moments before letting the teenager know of her presence in the room. The film showed a young blond woman frolicking and laughing on a beach, smiling and kicking the sand with her toes at whoever held the camera.

"Come on Lawrence, lets go for a swim," the woman had said in a happy voice. When she turned sideways to walk to the water, Kristen could see that she had been heavily pregnant at the time the footage was shot. This must have been Cynthia when she was pregnant with Lucas she thought, assuming that the Lawrence she had heard pertained to Lucas's father, Lawrence Wolenczak.

"Mind if I join you," Kristen said in a quiet voice as she walked around the sofa. At first Lucas jumped a little, not hearing anybody enter the room. Kristen could now see genuine large tears falling down his handsome young face as he continued to watch the film.

"Oh, honey," Kristen said, feeling like crying herself at such the shattering look on his face. She sat down and drew him into an unresisting embrace, his head resting on her shoulder as he let out a tide of emotion from that day.

Kristen didn't say anything at first, content just to support him when he needed it and show that she loved him dearly. She wanted to share his pain and let him understand that the death of a loved one was a very private and painful experience.

"Sorry," came the muffled voice through the sniffling and tears. He sat up and gave a half-hearted smile, thanking her for being there. He could not have done what he just did with Ben. Maybe Bridger, but Kristen was a woman somehow he thought she might have understood his mixed emotions towards his mother better.

"There is nothing to be sorry for, Lucas," Kristen assured him as she gently kissed his forehead, and wiped some of the tears from his face. She wanted him to cry. The macho image that had been portrayed to men over the years that tough men didn't cry or show there emotions was something that she hated.

Looking at this gentle young man before her, she could see how much he was hurting about his mother. There may have not been any recent contact with them, but that didn't mean that a son lost the memories of his mother. How she had once held him and hugged him and told him that she could make everything all better.

Lucas turned his attention back to the film, that had progressed a few years and now seemed to be showing a Christmas morning. Lucas looked to be about 6 years of age in the film, happily ripping parcels apart as his father once again held the video camera.

Cynthia Wolenczak came into frame, holding onto a cup of coffee and standing beside her husband as they both watched with pride as their son gasped in awe at the various presents that had been bestowed upon him.

"That was our last happy Christmas together," Lucas said as he watched the footage.  His tears had dried a little, but that was now replaced with a mask. As though he didn't want to believe that things had gone from being that good to being very bad shortly afterwards.

"Make sure you hold onto the happy times, Lucas," Kristen said to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. "There may not be as many as you would have liked in your life, but hold onto them and never let go.

"I don't know how I am supposed to feel," Lucas admitted to Kristen as she listened without accusal or judgment. "People expect me to just walk away or something, well some of them anyway. Just because she did that. But I can't seem to do that. I look back and although there is no past between us to speak of, she is still my mother."

"You don't need to listen to anybody or anything except what you feel right here," Kristen said as she placed her open palm over his heart. "This is where the truth comes from and it will guide you through these tough times."

"I am just scared that I won't be able to remember things about her. Like her hair and the smell of her over-rated perfume. How she always wore her pink earrings no matter if they didn't match the rest of her clothes. I just feel numb at the moment, like none of this has really happened, even though I had told myself many times that she is not coming back."

Lucas's head sagged a little more against Kristen's shoulder, as they watched the film on the screen, not really hearing what was going on. Kristen for the first time, getting a sense of who the real Cynthia Wolenczak was and what she had meant to those around her. Lucas, trying to recall each detail of her on film before they were erased forever.

Kristen had been idly running her fingers through his tussled blond hair, and looking down noted that Lucas had relaxed enough to fall asleep against her shoulder. She had no intentions of moving in case she disturbed him. She continued her gentle caresses through his hair, hoping that his sleep was restful and free of haunting memories.

About 2am, Kristen was gently awoken by Nathan's hand on her face. The projector had stopped running some time ago and the far wall was now in darkness. Lucas was still sound asleep against her shoulder and hadn't moved at all.

"Rough night?" Nathan enquired in a whisper, concern written across his face for both Lucas and Kristen. He hoped that she had at least gotten him to talk a little about his feelings, and judging by the closeness that they were currently sharing, some of that had been achieved.

"You could say that?" she replied but then put her fingers to her lips to suggest they continue the conversation away from the slumbering teenager.

Kristen was able to move with Nathan's assistance and allow Lucas to lie down fully along the sofa. Bridger had searched through a hallway cupboard and found a pillow and blanket. They didn't see the point in waking the teenager up just so he could go to bed. There was no guarantee that once his sleep was disturbed that he would be able to regain that relaxation.

The two of them now looked at the sleeping figure and wondered what other mixed emotions were yet to surface over the next few days. Kristen was the first to voice her opinion on that particular subject.

"How do you think he is coping?" came Bridger's question.

"I don't think he is Nathan, not really anyway. His solution seems to be to try and ignore the past like it never happened and lock his emotions and feelings away from the rest of the world," Kristen answered.

"Sounds like our Lucas on a normal day," Bridger tried to rationalise.

"Yes, but you can't see the desperate need in him to reconnect with his mother that I did tonight. He is trying to remind himself of his childhood through film and photographs. At the moment he is only causing himself more heartache," Kristen responded.

"What do you think he needs to do to accept what has happened?" Bridger asked.

"Not stay here for too long anyway. Everyday he finds something new to remind himself of her. And I don't mean necessarily go back to the boat straight away either. I mean a real break away for him so that he can have some genuine time to sit down and think," Kristen suggested.

"Lucas has to attend the reading of his mother's will tomorrow. Then I suppose there are a number of loose ends to tie up in relation to what will happen with what remains of her belongings and this house," Bridger said as he made a mental list.

"Yes, and I don't think the Will reading is going to help matters at all," Kristen remarked as she drew her lips tight together, trying to picture which other vultures from the household of relatives that would attend the beneficiary meeting with the solicitor.

"Tomorrow afternoon after it all, I think I will ask Henry to organise just you, me, Ben and Lucas, together for a quite chat and drink. One of the smaller rooms in this house, so that Lucas doesn't feel pressured to talk about anything he doesn't want to.  Henry can join us too if he likes, but the rest of them can stay away."

"I am sure that Henry would certainly agree to something like that, Nathan. And Lucas would like that too, I am sure of it," she smiled, knowing that he always tried his best to think of Lucas and his feelings first.

Bridger and Kristen retired to their own room for what remained of the night, covering the sleeping teenager with the light blanket before they left and ensuring he was as comfortable as one could be on a couch.

It was about 8.30 am the next morning at breakfast when Bridger decided to approach Henry about his little idea from the night before. Lucas was yet to make an appearance, and the appointment at the solicitors office was at 10.00am.

Bridger drew Henry aside from his duties for a moment, whilst none of Lucas's other relatives were present to overhear the plans being made. Henry nodded his head as he listened, certainly agreeing to what the Captain was proposing and trying to think of the most suitable room in the house.

"The small sitting room in the front wing of the house would suit our needs," Henry thought. "It used to be one of Cynthia's favourite rooms in the winter, allowing the sun to shine through and warm it nicely for the afternoon. There is a small cabinet in there that we could use as a bar. Lucas used to spent a great deal of time in there too, after Lawrence and Cynthia began fighting and arguing so much. He used to think of it as his secret haven when he wasn't in his bedroom," Henry explained.

"That sounds good," Kristen said just as a sleepy looking teenager came through the door looking a little tired from the past day and a restless night.

"What sounds good?" Lucas enquired innocently, as he walked to the other side of the kitchen and reached for a coffee cup. He poured the hot dark liquid and didn't even bother to add his usual two teaspoons of sugar before taking a large swallow. It was slightly more bitter, but he was hoping it would help him stay a little more alert on his feet today.

"I was just thinking about having a few games of cards in the front sitting room this afternoon," Henry said, letting himself fall as scape goat in case the teenager didn't warm to the idea. "We haven't done it for so long and there won't be too much else pressing after lunch."

For a moment Lucas didn't answer, only taking another sip from his coffee, his brow furrowing in thought and pondering the proposal being made. "Only if you don't cheat this time around," the teenager smirked and continued to drink he coffee.

Everyone in the room had been holding their breath, thinking that Lucas would turn down the invitation, but now were struck with what he had just said.

"Cheat!!," Henry said in a playful voice. "Now as I recall, that was you were the one who........," he said draping a arm around the teenager's shoulders. He was happy that Lucas had agreed. Hopefully it would do him the world of good just to spend some time out with people who knew and cared about him.

"Hey, Lucas, don't forget me. I still am poker champion back aboard the SeaQuest remember," Ben commented. He was worried about his friend, and looking for signs that what they were seeing was only a thin shell over a boiling tide of emotions that had yet to show through.

"In your dreams, Krieg!" Lucas shot back, "I have beaten you every time for the last three rounds."

"I think you are all forgetting something here," Kristen voiced in, her serious tone of voice putting them all slightly off guard. They were all expecting to get a lecture about the pros and cons of gambling and card playing.

"You all don't stand a chance against someone who was four times best card dealer in her senior year at college," Kristen said, laughing at the reaction she had gotten from the male population in the room.

All the men stood for a moment with their mouths agape that Kristen had even admitted to playing cards in the past, let alone declaring herself to be champion enough to be them all and hence be included in the little game that was being organised for later that day.

"You never told me.......," Bridger finally said, as they all felt a little easier with the light mood.

"No, I didn't.........," Kristen returned with a smile and sly look.

The mood of the morning didn't take long to change however. Firstly with the appearance of Aunt Carmel a few minutes later, boisterous and as obnoxious as the day before.

Lucas quickly drained the remaining coffee in his cup and made the excuse of having to get ready for the meeting to exit without having to face her over breakfast.

"Umph," was the snide reply from Aunt Carmel as he walked past. "You had better hurry up. Late as usual. Tardiness is not something I approve of."

"Nobody is asking you, Aunt Carmel, so shut the hell up," Lucas said in an annoyed tone of voice, his shoulders slumping a little at having to endure this horse-faced woman for any longer than necessary at the reading of his mother's will.

Lucas would have preferred not having to go at all. There was nothing to gain by him attending. But formality applied in this case and as being the closest next of kin and her son, it was deemed proper for him to be there for legal reasons. Nobody had actually asked him if he wanted to attend or not. It had just been shoved in his face that he was "expected" to go.

Kristen and the others in the room remained silent, not wanting to intrude, but a little disappointed that Lucas's mood had dissolved into depression so quickly. They were surprised, but relieved when Aunt Carmel had announced that she had made plans for the afternoon elsewhere from the house. They had no intentions of telling her about the little card game and relaxation time that had been discussed for Lucas's benefit.

When Lucas finally declared himself ready to go to the solicitor's office, he turned to the Captain, "You don't have to go you know, if you don't want to. It is probably going to be dull and boring anyway."

"I know, but I want to be there, even if it is only to support you," Bridger replied, happy to see a small genuine smile of appreciation on the teenager's face.

The solicitor's office was just your average sterile looking room that gave you the creeps, no matter what your reasons for being there. Thankfully for Lucas, the  lawyer in charge of Cynthia Wolenczak's estate was prompt and on time.

All were called into a private conference room. The meeting consisted of Lucas, Aunt Carmel, Carl, Aunt Beryl and Walter. Bridger, Ben and Kristen were allowed entry after staunch argument for their need to be there for Lucas's sake.

Lucas couldn't help but feel unnerved with the confined space and all his relatives within close proximity at the one time. Both Aunt Carmel and Beryl were seated, as was Uncle Walter due to his age. Carl stood directly behind Carmel, who had yet to even acknowledge the teenager's presence in the room.

The tension was clear, even to the lawyer. Although related, some of the people within the room just wanted to know how much of a share of the pie they had received and be done with it.

"As you all know, we are here today to begin finalising the estate of the late Cynthia Wolenczak," the lawyer began.

Aunt Carmel snickered at the opening speech of the man, knowing that he spoke with compassion and care for someone he had never known and was only doing it for Lucas's sake, being her son.

Kristen had reached forth and taken Lucas's trembling hand in her own. The teenager was trying to hide his grief and hold everything in, even the contempt he felt towards Aunt Carmel, but for how long was unknown.

"The document reads as follows ladies and gentlemen:"

I Cynthia Wolenczak of sound mind and body, do hereby give my last Will and Testament this 24th day of September.

With regard to all of my personal assets, including jewellery, cash, security bonds, real estate and shares, I bequeath these wholly and solely to my dear son, Lucas Wolenczak.

The room was silent. Lucas had certainly not expected to receive any of his mother's belongings due to their distant relationship. But in front of these people, here, now, to be told that everything had been left to him was almost impossible to believe.

So much so that Aunt Carmel couldn't hide the scoff that was on the tip of her tongue, "How could she do such a stupid thing. I knew she didn't give a damn about anyone but herself."

Aunt Beryl seemed upset and disappointed at the decision, but not angry like Carmel, more like hurt that Cynthia had seen it necessary to acknowledge the closeness that they had once shared.

"Typical. Leaves everything to him, when she barely even spoke to him," Carl spat digging his hands into the back of the chair with the frustration and sense of betrayal that he also felt at the terms of the Will.

Lucas had heard all of the statements made, on top of his own disbelief at being left his mother's assets. He didn't know what to say. Ben had scowled at Carl about his comments in front of the teenager, but he didn't want to cause a family dispute in front of his friend on a day that was already proving very difficult.

"I hope your happy," came Aunt Carmel has she stood and walked past Lucas to exit the meeting in disgust. "You retched little urchin. You just had to waltz back in here now when you were never here for her."

That comment cut Lucas to the core, barely able to contain the hurt that she had inflicted with such words. "She was never there for me," he shot back, clenching his fist, but forcing it to his side.

Aunt Carmel left the answer without further comment. The same couldn't be said for Carl though.

Beryl had given Lucas a brief embrace and congratulated him on her way out, although finding it difficult to hold back her own disappointment. She was whispering to Walter, the other able to catch a few words, "What are we going to do now?"

Walter had given Lucas a genuine smile, but supported his wife as they left, promising her that it would all work out somehow. To exactly what they were referring to, nobody in the room could be certain, but the unease that had been caused to all with the terms of Cynthia's will was plain to see for all involved.

Carl had walked particularly close to Lucas choosing his words with maximum effect, "This isn't over yet, boy!".

Lucas wasn't sure how to take the remark, feeling a little intimidated, given the circumstances. So much so, that he found himself taking an involuntary step backwards. Luckily, Bridger was right behind him, giving Carl a dark look that he reserved only for those few foolish enough to threaten Lucas in his presence.

Ben and Kristen too were determined to protect the boy too if necessary. They had not been able to shield the teenager from hurtful words from his relatives, but  they would ensure that he was safe from them in case things turned decidedly nastier.

"You were just leaving," Bridger said as he pointed towards the door, almost ready to put himself in front of Lucas if the man chose to take a more physical approach to show his objection.

"I will take Lucas out to the car, you finish things up here," Bridger suggested to Ben and Kristen. Nathan had no intentions of letting him walk out there alone after hearing the various comments and threats.

The lawyer had a confused look on his face at the reaction that had been given to the Will, but Kristen and Ben assured him that everything was in order. After Lucas had left with Bridger, they had asked for confirmation that Lucas was indeed the sole beneficiary.

The lawyer stated the same again, indicating that there was quite an amount of money included, given the number of properties that Cynthia had maintained during her marriage to Lawrence and those she had accumulated after he was sent to prison.

The exact amount would have to be determined over the coming weeks as assets were liquidated as Lucas saw fit and instructions received on what to do with those that were to be retained.

Upon returning to Cynthia's house, Lucas and Bridger had explained to Henry about the terms of the Will. The butler had tried to appear surprise, but gave a poor effort in doing so.

"You knew about this?" Lucas asked, not out of anger, but shocked to say the least.

"Well Lucas, lets just say, I have known for an awful long time that your mother loved you very much. She might not have said it often enough to you or shown you the proper way. But she loved her as only she could, Lucas. With you gone in this house, she felt empty."

"Why didn't you ever tell me, Henry?" Lucas asked.

"Wasn't my place to do that Lucas. You don't know how many nights I saw her cry over wanting to call you and not having the courage to do so. I tried to convince her many times that you wouldn't turn her away, but in her eyes she blamed herself and couldn't get past the first step."

Lucas swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat at such admission of his mother's love for him.

Henry made sure he had the teenager's full attention with the next comment, "She loved you boy, with all her heart. Don't ever stop believing that."

The small group made their way to the small sitting room at the front of the house, but there was no further discussion about the game of cards.

Lucas looked to be deep in thought, trying to figure out where to go from here in his mind. The others were sympathetic enough to be there if he needed them, but to give him enough space too.

Henry poured drinks, except for Lucas who had refused, whilst the teenager walked about the room. His concentration had been drawn to the number of statues and little knickknacks that were on various shelves within the room.

"This used to be mom's junk room," he said with a little laugh. "Dad was always complaining that there was too much crap in here. They would go overseas for holidays, mostly without me, but to interesting places like Egypt and Greece. Mom would always bring back a little souvenir from each place and put it in here," Lucas reminisced.

"What is that little piece you are holding there, Lucas?" Kristen asked with genuine curiosity. She couldn't help but be a little saddened by his accounts of family holidays without him, but he seemed to be taking comfort in the objects that he knew had once been apart of his mother's life.

"This?" he held up, Kristen nodding her head in acknowledgement.

"This was one of her favourites, right Henry?" Mom brought this back from somewhere overseas, I can't remember where. Said it had come from the Gardens of Babylon. Dad always swore that she bought it from a two dime store in Chinatown."

Lucas ran his fingertips over the green jaded surface of the statue, as if trying to make a memory from it about his mother. He thought back to the first day he had saw her put it on the shelf. How for the next two weeks it had dominated the topic of conversation with any of their guests, until his father had gotten sick of hearing about it and threatened to smash it into a million pieces.

Somehow it seemed like only a few months ago, but Lucas knew that it was much longer than that. He continued to run his hand along the outside of the statue, until he came to the bottom, where he felt something else entirely. His eyes widened in surprise and he lifted it up to inspect it more.

"What is it Lucas?" Bridger asked, seeing the confusion and surprise on the teenager's face.

"A secret hiding place, it would seem," Lucas said as he tried to fit his finger into the small hold on the bottom of the statue. The hold probably indicated that Lawrence Wolenczak had been correct about its origins. What he didn't realise back then, was that inside it was a key, that now innocently fell out onto Lucas's open palm.

Lucas looked at it for a moment, placing the statue carefully back on the shelf and then examining the key closely with two hands, trying to look for identifying clues or markings on it.

Henry seemed to be just as surprised as Lucas about the key, having never known of its presence there before, even after Lucas had left home. "I wonder what it opens?" he asked.

"Seems to be a small key," Lucas commented, the shape being an unfamiliar one. It didn't look like a key to a door or a lock that he could recall.

"Oh well, probably something stupid that Mom did back years ago and forgot all about," Lucas said. He slipped the key into the pocket of his jeans. "I think I will go up to my room and kick back for a while."

"That sounds like a good idea," Kristen said, still a little curious like everyone else about the key and what it belonged to.

The remainder of the day passed by relatively quickly. Lucas had done as he had said and gone to his room. He had tried to sleep on a couple of occasions, but had not been able to rest properly, and after the third attempt, had given up altogether.

It was as he exited his room in search of a drink that he heard a noise coming from a room a little down the hall from him. He paused for a moment and tried to hear it again. Aunt Carmel and the others had returned to the house a couple of hours earlier, but had so far avoided Lucas and Henry as best they could after the meeting that morning.

As Lucas neared the room, he realised it was coming from his mother's office. Not a room that was overly used. His father's office was much larger and downstairs. Lucas had recalled his mother being in her office on many occasions at all. He wondered who was making the noise now.

There was another noise now, this time a larger thud, which made him jump a little, not knowing what caused it. He turned the door handle and stepped into the room, not really knowing what to expect.

"Henry!" Lucas cried out as he saw his butler friend laying prone on the floor near a cabinet. The man looked to be unconscious. Lucas looked about quickly for any signs of somebody else in the room, but could not see anyone else.

"Henry?" he asked a little louder, hoping to rouse his friend, but a little worried about the small trickle of blood that he saw on the man's scalp. He shook his shoulder, but again no response. He would have to go and get help from Kristen.

"Don't worry, Henry, I will be........," was all he got out as he half-turned, ready to stand and exit the room in search of Kristen's medical training. Before he got fully to his knees though, he heard a footstep and then felt a sharp pain to the back of his own head.

The teenager slumped to the floor beside the unconscious butler, both of them not moving.

TO BE CONTINUED....................

Hello everyone – yes I disappeared into the deep void, never to be seen again. I have no excuse or alibi as usual except to say that I have next to no writing time at the moment.

I am trying to update as quickly as I can with all stories, but I want the stories to work and not just update for the sake of it. I want people to enjoy reading too.

Sorry for the delay. Hopefully somebody is still reading out there.

Let me know what you think. The plot for this story has never changed and is hopefully gaining momentum now.

I don't think this is some of my better stuff – but anyway.

Thanks

JULES


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